title: Observations of cellular responses to diamagnetic forces acting on cell components.
abstract: The magnetooptical measurements of the properties of living cells have a potentially large impact on cellular engineering and biotechnology because the noninvasive approach to applying magnetic fields on cells enables the detection of the dynamics of intracellular components under natural conditions. In this study, we examine a magnetooptical response in smooth muscle cells exposed to a vertical magnetic field of 5 T. The time course of the linearly polarized light transmittance of cells showed both a gradual decrease and fluctuations during exposure at 5 T. Real-time observations of smooth muscle cells and giant rodlike vesicles revealed that magnetic fields cause morphological changes in the cells and vesicles. In addition, results of the optical transmittance measurement of a fish scale indicate that cellular or tissue components are diamagnetically reoriented by magnetic fields.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Engineering, Chiba University, Inage-ku, Chiba 263-8522, Japan.
authors.forename: Masakazu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Iwasaka
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo, Moguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8902, Japan.
authors.forename: Kentaro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo, Moguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8902, Japan.
authors.forename: Tadashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sugawara
keywords: cell; cytoskeleton; diamagnetism; magnetic orientation; static magnetic fields