title: Optically-Induced Cell Fusion on Cell Pairing Microstructures.
abstract: Cell fusion is a critical operation for numerous biomedical applications including cell reprogramming, hybridoma formation, cancer immunotherapy, and tissue regeneration. However, unstable cell contact and random cell pairings have limited efficiency and yields when utilizing traditional methods. Furthermore, it is challenging to selectively perform cell fusion within a group of cells. This study reports a new approach called optically-induced cell fusion (OICF), which integrates cell-pairing microstructures with an optically-induced, localized electrical field. By projecting light patterns onto a photoconductive film (hydrogen-rich, amorphous silicon) coated on an indium-tin-oxide (ITO) glass while an alternating current electrical field was applied between two such ITO glass slides, "virtual" electrodes could be generated that could selectively fuse pairing cells. At 10 kHz, a 57% cell paring rate and an 87% fusion efficiency were successfully achieved at a driving voltage of 20  V(pp), suggesting that this new technology could be promising for selective cell fusion within a group of cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Power Mechanical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan 30013.
authors.forename: Po-Fu
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Power Mechanical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan 30013.
authors.forename: Chih-Hung
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Power Mechanical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan 30013.|Institute of Biomedical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan 30013.|Institute of NanoEngineering and Microsystems, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan 30013.
authors.forename: Gwo-Bin
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D002459:Cell Fusion / Q000379:methods; D004566:Electrodes; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D056656:Lab-On-A-Chip Devices; D008564:Membrane Potentials; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D055095:Optics and Photonics / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods