title: Gold Nanoshell-Mediated Remote Myotube Activation.
abstract: Mild heat stimulation of muscle cells within the physiological range represents an intriguing approach for the modulation of their functions. In this work, photothermal conversion was exploited to remotely stimulate striated muscle cells by using gold nanoshells (NSs) in combination with near-infrared (NIR) radiation. Temperature increments of approximately 5 °C were recorded by using an intracellular fluorescent molecular thermometer and were demonstrated to efficiently induce myotube contraction. The mechanism at the base of this phenomenon was thoroughly investigated and was observed to be a Ca2+-independent event directly involving actin-myosin interactions. Finally, chronic remote photothermal stimulations significantly increased the mRNA transcription of genes encoding heat shock proteins and sirtuin 1, a protein which in turn can induce mitochondrial biogenesis. Overall, we provide evidence that remote NIR + NS muscle excitation represents an effective wireless stimulation technique with great potential in the fields of muscle tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, and bionics.
authors.affiliation: Center for Micro-BioRobotics, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia , Viale Rinaldo Piaggio 34, Pontedera (Pisa) 56025, Italy.
authors.forename: Attilio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marino
authors.affiliation: Waseda Bioscience Research Institute in Singapore, Waseda University , Biopolis Way 11, #05-02 Helios, 138667 Singapore.|Comprehensive Research Organization, Waseda University , #304, Block 120-4, 513 Waseda-Tsurumaki-Cho, Shinjuku-Ku, Tokyo 162-0041, Japan.
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-4807-8248
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Arai
authors.affiliation: Waseda Bioscience Research Institute in Singapore, Waseda University , Biopolis Way 11, #05-02 Helios, 138667 Singapore.
authors.forename: Yanyan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: Center for Micro-BioRobotics, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia , Viale Rinaldo Piaggio 34, Pontedera (Pisa) 56025, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Degl'Innocenti
authors.affiliation: Center for Nanotechnology Innovation @NEST, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia , Piazza San Silvestro 12, Pisa 56127, Italy.
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cappello
authors.affiliation: Center for Micro-BioRobotics, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia , Viale Rinaldo Piaggio 34, Pontedera (Pisa) 56025, Italy.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mazzolai
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore, MedChem Program of Life Sciences Institute, National University of Singapore , 3 Science Drive 3, 117543 Singapore.|Laboratory of Bioimaging Probe Development, Singapore Bioimaging Consortium, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) , Biopolis 138667 Singapore.
authors.forename: Young-Tae
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Center for Micro-BioRobotics, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia , Viale Rinaldo Piaggio 34, Pontedera (Pisa) 56025, Italy.
authors.forename: Virgilio
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-4715-8353
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Mattoli
authors.affiliation: Waseda Bioscience Research Institute in Singapore, Waseda University , Biopolis Way 11, #05-02 Helios, 138667 Singapore.|Comprehensive Research Organization, Waseda University , #304, Block 120-4, 513 Waseda-Tsurumaki-Cho, Shinjuku-Ku, Tokyo 162-0041, Japan.|PRESTO, Japan Science and Technology Agency , 4-1-8 Honcho Kawaguchi, Saitama 332-0012, Japan.
authors.forename: Madoka
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.affiliation: Center for Micro-BioRobotics, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia , Viale Rinaldo Piaggio 34, Pontedera (Pisa) 56025, Italy.|Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Politecnico di Torino , Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, Torino 10129, Italy.
authors.forename: Gianni
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1192-3647
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ciofani
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002460:Cell Line; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D018485:Muscle Fibers, Skeletal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D057145:Nanoshells / Q000737:chemistry*; D011145:Polyvinyls / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D011759:Pyrrolidines / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D011145:Polyvinyls; D011759:Pyrrolidines; C505150:poly(N-vinylpyrrolidine); D006046:Gold; D012822:Silicon Dioxide
keywords: C2C12 myotubes; calcium imaging; cell heating; intracellular thermometry; near-infrared radiation