title: A self-propelled biohybrid swimmer at low Reynolds number.
abstract: Many microorganisms, including spermatozoa and forms of bacteria, oscillate or twist a hair-like flagella to swim. At this small scale, where locomotion is challenged by large viscous drag, organisms must generate time-irreversible deformations of their flagella to produce thrust. To date, there is no demonstration of a self propelled, synthetic flagellar swimmer operating at low Reynolds number. Here we report a microscale, biohybrid swimmer enabled by a unique fabrication process and a supporting slender-body hydrodynamics model. The swimmer consists of a polydimethylsiloxane filament with a short, rigid head and a long, slender tail on which cardiomyocytes are selectively cultured. The cardiomyocytes contract and deform the filament to propel the swimmer at 5-10 μm s(-1), consistent with model predictions. We then demonstrate a two-tailed swimmer swimming at 81 μm s(-1). This small-scale, elementary biohybrid swimmer can serve as a platform for more complex biological machines.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA.
authors.forename: Brian J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA.
authors.forename: Sandeep V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Anand
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287, USA.
authors.forename: Jagannathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rajagopalan
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA.
authors.forename: M Taher A
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Saif
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena / Q000502:physiology; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004129:Dimethylpolysiloxanes; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D057446:Hydrodynamics; D008954:Models, Biological; D032383:Myocytes, Cardiac / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D004129:Dimethylpolysiloxanes; C013830:baysilon