title: Cellular level robotic surgery: Nanodissection of intermediate filaments in live keratinocytes.
abstract: We present the nanosurgery on the cytoskeleton of live cells using AFM based nanorobotics to achieve adhesiolysis and mimic the effect of pathophysiological modulation of intercellular adhesion. Nanosurgery successfully severs the intermediate filament bundles and disrupts cell-cell adhesion similar to the desmosomal protein disassembly in autoimmune disease, or the cationic modulation of desmosome formation. Our nanomechanical analysis revealed that adhesion loss results in a decrease in cellular stiffness in both cases of biochemical modulation of the desmosome junctions and mechanical disruption of intercellular adhesion, supporting the notion that intercellular adhesion through intermediate filaments anchors the cell structure as focal adhesion does and that intermediate filaments are integral components in cell mechanical integrity. The surgical process could potentially help reveal the mechanism of autoimmune pathology-induced cell-cell adhesion loss as well as its related pathways that lead to cell apoptosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA.
authors.forename: Ruiguo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA.
authors.forename: Zhiyong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: King Wai Chiu
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.affiliation: Hong Kong Productivity Council, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Carmen Kar Man
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Fung
authors.affiliation: College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA.
authors.forename: Kevin C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Patterson
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, 14203, USA.
authors.forename: Kristina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Seiffert-Sinha
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, 14203, USA. Electronic address: aasinha@buffalo.edu.
authors.forename: Animesh A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Sinha
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA. Electronic address: xin@egr.msu.edu.
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Xi
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000378:metabolism; D002412:Cations; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D002460:Cell Line; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000378:metabolism; D003896:Desmosomes / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007382:Intermediate Filaments / Q000737:chemistry*; D015603:Keratinocytes / Q000166:cytology*; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D050997:Nanomedicine / Q000379:methods*; D049329:Nanostructures; D012371:Robotics; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D025321:Surgery, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D002412:Cations
keywords: Atomic Force Microscopy; Cell–cell adhesion; Desmosome; Intermediate filament; Mechanical property; Nanosurgery