Precision Assembly of Complex Cellular Microenvironments using Holographic Optical Tweezers

The accurate study of cellular microenvironments is limited by the lack of technologies that can manipulate cells in 3D at a sufficiently small length scale. The ability to build and manipulate multicellular microscopic structures will facilitate a more detailed understanding of cellular function in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2015-02, Vol.5 (1), p.8577-8577, Article 8577
Main Authors: Kirkham, Glen R., Britchford, Emily, Upton, Thomas, Ware, James, Gibson, Graham M., Devaud, Yannick, Ehrbar, Martin, Padgett, Miles, Allen, Stephanie, Buttery, Lee D., Shakesheff, Kevin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
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Adult Stem Cells - physiology
Animals
Apoptosis
Cell adhesion
Cell adhesion & migration
Cell Aggregation
Cell culture
Cellular Microenvironment
Coculture Techniques
Culture Media - chemistry
Embryo cells
Embryonic Stem Cells - physiology
Holography
Humanities and Social Sciences
Humans
Hydrogels
Hydrogels - chemistry
Mesenchymal Stem Cells - physiology
Mice
Microenvironments
Micromanipulation - methods
Microparticles
multidisciplinary
Optical Tweezers
Polymers
Science
Stem cells
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Summary:The accurate study of cellular microenvironments is limited by the lack of technologies that can manipulate cells in 3D at a sufficiently small length scale. The ability to build and manipulate multicellular microscopic structures will facilitate a more detailed understanding of cellular function in fields such as developmental and stem cell biology. We present a holographic optical tweezers based technology to accurately generate bespoke cellular micro-architectures. Using embryonic stem cells, 3D structures of varying geometries were created and stabilized using hydrogels and cell-cell adhesion methods. Control of chemical microenvironments was achieved by the temporal release of specific factors from polymer microparticles positioned within these constructs. Complex co-culture micro-environmental analogues were also generated to reproduce structures found within adult stem cell niches. The application of holographic optical tweezers-based micromanipulation will enable novel insights into biological microenvironments by allowing researchers to form complex architectures with sub-micron precision of cells, matrices and molecules.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/srep08577