Precision assembly of complex cellular microenvironments using holographic optical tweezers

Kirkham, Glen R.; Britchford, Emily; Upton, Thomas; Ware, James; Gibson, Graham; Devaud, Yannick; Ehrbar, Martin; Padgett, Miles; Allen, Stephanie; Buttery, Lee D.K.; Shakesheff, Kevin M.

Abstract

The accurate study of cellular microenvironments is limited by the lack of technologies that can manipulate cells in 3D at a sufficiently small length scale. The ability to build and manipulate multicellular microscopic structures will facilitate a more detailed understanding of cellular function in fields such as developmental and stem cell biology. We present a holographic optical tweezers based technology to accurately generate bespoke cellular micro-architectures. Using embryonic stem cells, 3D structures of varying geometries were created and stabilized using hydrogels and cell-cell adhesion methods. Control of chemical microenvironments was achieved by the temporal release of specific factors from polymer microparticles positioned within these constructs. Complex co-culture micro-environmental analogues were also generated to reproduce structures found within adult stem cell niches. The application of holographic optical tweezers-based micromanipulation will enable novel insights into biological microenvironments by allowing researchers to form complex architectures with sub-micron precision of cells, matrices and molecules.

Citation

Kirkham, G. R., Britchford, E., Upton, T., Ware, J., Gibson, G., Devaud, Y., Ehrbar, M., Padgett, M., Allen, S., Buttery, L. D., & Shakesheff, K. M. (2015). Precision assembly of complex cellular microenvironments using holographic optical tweezers. Scientific Reports, 5, Article 8577. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep08577

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 22, 2015
• Publication Date: Feb 26, 2015
• Deposit Date: Sep 22, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 22, 2017
• Journal: Scientific Reports
• Electronic ISSN: 2045-2322
• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 5
• Article Number: 8577
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/srep08577
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/744349
• Publisher URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/srep08577
• Contract Date: Sep 22, 2017