Year-end Sale % OFF 
Abstract
Magnetic levitation though negative magnetophoresis is a novel technology to simulate weightlessness and has recently found applications in material and biological sciences. Yet little is known about the ability of the magnetic levitation system to facilitate biofabrication of in situ three dimensional (3D) cellular structures. Here, we optimized a magnetic levitation though negative magnetophoresis protocol appropriate for long term levitated cell culture and developed an in situ 3D cellular assembly model with controlled cluster size and cellular pattern under simulated weightlessness. The developed strategy outlines a potential basis for the study of weightlessness on 3D living structures and with the opportunity for real-time imaging that is not possible with current ground-based simulated weightlessness techniques. The low-cost technique presented here may offer a wide range of biomedical applications in several research fields, including mechanobiology, drug discovery and developmental biology.
Highlights
One of the most recent ground based technology to mimic the biological effects of weightlessness is magnetic levitation technique[27]
Our study established the possibility of levitation through diamagnetophoresis as a powerful biomedical tool that will allow testing of molecular and cellular level hypotheses on biological effects of weightlessness in a single cell level that is not possible with current methods simulating weightlessness
In order to select the most appropriate media for cell culture during magnetic levitation, we used a custom made microfluidic levitation device (Fig. 1a, Supplementary Information, Supplementary Fig. 1) to levitate D1 ORL UVA bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells with different Gd-based contrast agents; gadobutrol (Gd-BT-DO3A), gadopentetate dimeglumine (Gd-DTPA), gadodiamide (Gd-DTPA-BMA), gadoterate meglumine (Gd-DOTA) and gadobenate dimeglumine (Gd-BOPTA) at increasing concentrations (0, 10, 25, 50, 100 and 200 mM) and measured location of cells from bottom surface of capillary after 10 min of levitation to allow cells levitated at lower concentrations of Gd3+ to reach steady state (Fig. 1a,b,d and Supplementary Fig. 2)
Summary
One of the most recent ground based technology to mimic the biological effects of weightlessness is magnetic levitation technique[27]. In contrast to other ground-based methods, magnetic levitation allows the investigation of relatively fast cellular processes. Objects (i.e. almost all cells) are guided towards regions of low magnetic field in a magnetic field gradient and the process is resulted in stable magnetic levitation and the simulation of weightlessness environment as long as the gradient is intact[30,31,32]. Such a strategy requires high magnitude magnetic fields that can be detrimental to biological subjects[33]. Our study established the possibility of levitation through diamagnetophoresis as a powerful biomedical tool that will allow testing of molecular and cellular level hypotheses on biological effects of weightlessness in a single cell level that is not possible with current methods simulating weightlessness
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
