Deformation of cellular components of bone forming cells when exposed to a magnetic field

M Iwasaka

doi:10.1063/1.5079635

Abstract

It has been suggested that alignment control of biological macromolecules and structures is possible when the diamagnetic energy is sufficient to overcome the thermal energy. Strong magnetic fields of several Tesla (T) have previously been shown to enable the observation of the magnetic orientations of protein fibers and suspended or adherent cells. In the present study, the fine structure of a bone-forming osteoblast cell line was observed in real-time under strong static magnetic fields of up to 5 T. The magnetic field was applied normal to the adhering surface, and induced slight deformation of cellular shape under bright field illumination. A newly developed dark field observation method presented more precise analysis of the inner structures of the cells in strong magnetic fields. Specifically, structures with a round appearance were clearly visualized around the cell nucleus using the electromagnetic illumination. In addition to the magnetically induced swelling of the round structures—which showed differences in diameter of several micrometers—color changes for these intracellular components were also detected using this technique. A high-resolution analysis of fine cellular structure based on the magnetic orientation of intracellular components including microtubules is proposed.

Highlights

The reconstruction of cellular tissues using biomedical engineering is a new and growing field in which the non-invasive control of cells generally requires the use of physical fields.1There are numerous approaches to manipulating cells using physical techniques
One of the glass dishes to which osteoblasts adhered was placed in the room scitation.org/journal/adv including bright field illumination where the light was introduced through a ring illumination light guide that originated from a high power LED light source
By changing the light transport connection to the optical fiber connected to a prism mirror by the side of the cell culture dish, dark field illumination was enabled

Summary

INTRODUCTION

The reconstruction of cellular tissues using biomedical engineering is a new and growing field in which the non-invasive control of cells generally requires the use of physical fields.. Previous studies have shown that the magnetic orientation of macromolecules is a promising tool for the non-invasive micro-manipulation or micro/nano-actuation of sensitive living cells.. We have demonstrated the use of magnetic fields with biological cells to orient adherent cells, perform cytoskeletal dynamics measurements, and induce the deformation of cellular outline.. This work describes detailed conformational changes that were observed inside cell membranes exposed to a vertical magnetic field (5 T). A new method for observing adherent cells in a magnetic field in real time was developed that revealed color changes in cells in addition to the magnetically induced deformation of intracellular objects

METHODS

Findings

CONCLUSIONS