title: Photothermally triggered actuation of hybrid materials as a new platform for in vitro cell manipulation.
abstract: Mechanical forces in the cell's natural environment have a crucial impact on growth, differentiation and behaviour. Few areas of biology can be understood without taking into account how both individual cells and cell networks sense and transduce physical stresses. However, the field is currently held back by the limitations of the available methods to apply physiologically relevant stress profiles on cells, particularly with sub-cellular resolution, in controlled in vitro experiments. Here we report a new type of active cell culture material that allows highly localized, directional and reversible deformation of the cell growth substrate, with control at scales ranging from the entire surface to the subcellular, and response times on the order of seconds. These capabilities are not matched by any other method, and this versatile material has the potential to bridge the performance gap between the existing single cell micro-manipulation and 2D cell sheet mechanical stimulation techniques.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sutton
authors.affiliation: John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.|Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
authors.forename: Tanya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shirman
authors.affiliation: John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.|Department of Applied Physics, Aalto University, Espoo 02150, Finland.
authors.forename: Jaakko V I
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Timonen
authors.affiliation: John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
authors.forename: Grant T
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: England
authors.affiliation: Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
authors.forename: Philseok
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Mathias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kolle
authors.affiliation: Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ferrante
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.|Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Department of Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA.
authors.forename: Lauren D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Zarzar
authors.affiliation: Harvard College, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Strong
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.|John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.|Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Aizenberg
mesh_terms: D000180:Acrylic Resins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000528:radiation effects; D000818:Animals; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002460:Cell Line; D005452:Fluoresceins / Q000737:chemistry; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000737:chemistry / Q000528:radiation effects*; D008027:Light; D040542:Mechanotransduction, Cellular / Q000502:physiology*; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology; D051379:Mice; D043942:Nanotubes / Q000737:chemistry*; D061848:Optical Imaging / Q000379:methods; D055668:Photochemical Processes; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D000180:Acrylic Resins; D005452:Fluoresceins; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D020100:Hydrogels; C069306:5-chloromethylfluorescein; C052970:poly-N-isopropylacrylamide; D006046:Gold