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A photon-driven micromotor can direct nerve fibre growth

Nature Photonics volume 6, pages 62–67 (2012)Cite this article

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Abstract

Axonal path-finding is important in the development of the nervous system, nerve repair and nerve regeneration. The behaviour of the growth cone at the tip of the growing axon determines the direction of axonal growth and migration. We have developed an optical-based system to control the direction of growth of individual axons (nerve fibres) using laser-driven spinning birefringent spheres. One or two optical traps position birefringent beads adjacent to growth cones of cultured goldfish retinal ganglion cell axons. Circularly polarized light with angular momentum causes the trapped bead to spin. This creates a localized microfluidic flow generating an estimated 0.17 pN shear force against the growth cone that turns in response to the shear. The direction of axonal growth can be precisely manipulated by changing the rotation direction and position of this optically driven micromotor. A physical model estimating the shear force density on the axon is described.

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Figure 1: Time-lapse images when a vaterite particle is rotated anticlockwise and positioned to the left of the axon defined by the growth direction of the axon (dashed arrow 1).
Figure 2: Time-lapse images when a vaterite particle is rotated clockwise and positioned to the left of the axon defined by the axon growth direction (dashed arrow 1).
Figure 3: Prolonged time-lapse images: changing the position and rotation direction of a vaterite particle to control the axonal growth direction.
Figure 4: Two vaterite particles were trapped and rotated in opposite directions.
Figure 5: Plot of the shear force per unit area calculated using the proposed model.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank H. Tucker for discussions on statistics and the software used to calculate the P-values of the Irwin–Fisher Exact Test, and S. George, H. Chan and C. Robertson for measuring the viscosity of the culture medium. This research was supported by a grant from the US Air Force Office of Scientific Research (no. FA9550-10-1-0538 to M.W.B.), a gift from the Beckman Laser Institute Foundation (to M.W.B.), a grant from the Australian Research Council (to T.A.N. and H.R.) and a School of Biological Sciences grant (to R.L.M.).

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Author notes

  1. Samarendra Mohanty

    Present address: Present address: Department of Physics, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas 76019, USA,

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Beckman Laser Institute and Medical Clinic, University of California at Irvine, Irvine, 92617, California, USA

    Tao Wu, Samarendra Mohanty & Michael W. Berns

  2. Quantum Science Laboratory, School of Mathematics and Physics, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, 4072, Queensland, Australia

    Timo A. Nieminen & Halina Rubinsztein-Dunlop

  3. Department of Developmental and Cell Biology, University of California at Irvine, Irvine, 92617, California, USA

    Jill Miotke, Ronald L. Meyer & Michael W. Berns

  4. Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of California at Irvine, Irvine, 92617, California, USA

    Michael W. Berns

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Contributions

T.W. performed all the experiments reported in this paper. S.M. performed seminal experiments that led to the studies reported here. T.A.N. and H.R.-D. developed the physical approximation model. J.M. prepared the goldfish retinal explant cultures. T.W., T.A.N., R.L.M., H.R.-D. and M.W.B. analysed the data. T.W., T.A.N., J.M., R.L.M., H.R.-D. and M.W.B. wrote the paper.

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Correspondence to Michael W. Berns.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Wu, T., Nieminen, T., Mohanty, S. et al. A photon-driven micromotor can direct nerve fibre growth. Nature Photon 6, 62–67 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2011.287

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