Abstract
Interactions between a micro-magnet array and living cells may guide the establishment of cell networks due to the cellular response to a magnetic field. To manipulate mesenchymal stem cells free of magnetic nanoparticles by a high magnetic field gradient, we used high quality micro-patterned NdFeB films around which the stray field’s value and direction drastically change across the cell body. Such micro-magnet arrays coated with parylene produce high magnetic field gradients that affect the cells in two main ways: i) causing cell migration and adherence to a covered magnetic surface and ii) elongating the cells in the directions parallel to the edges of the micro-magnet. To explain these effects, three putative mechanisms that incorporate both physical and biological factors influencing the cells are suggested. It is shown that the static high magnetic field gradient generated by the micro-magnet arrays are capable of assisting cell migration to those areas with the strongest magnetic field gradient, thereby allowing the build up of tunable interconnected stem cell networks, which is an elegant route for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.
Highlights
Our planet produces a small magnetic field, about 50 mT, which varies on a length scale much larger that the size of humans, animals and cells
What happens when a living cell interacts with a strong magnet of similar size to itself? The stray field produced by such a micromagnet will dramatically change in value and direction across the cell body and the question is: how will the cell respond and adapt itself to a high magnetic field gradient? In spite of tremendous recent progress in cell biology and the ever growing use of magnetic materials in bio-medical applications, little is known of the long-term influence of a magnetic field at the cellular level
In studies of the effects of a magnetic field on living cells, mesenchymal stem cells are the subject of particular interest because of their ability to differentiate into adipocytes, chondrocytes and osteoblasts as well as other cell types [2], allowing tissue regeneration and providing therapeutic effects on diseases for which there is no other effective therapy
Summary
Our planet produces a small magnetic field, about 50 mT, which varies on a length scale much larger that the size of humans, animals and cells. Even a small and quite homogenous magnetic field is crucial for many aspects of the lives of both humans and microorganisms, e.g. left-right inversion in the human brain [1]; magnetoreception observed in magnetotactic bacteria and believed to occur in certain animals, such as birds. Manipulating the fate of stem cells, their spatial organization and the creation of an interconnected cell network with externally applied magnetic fields is of great potential interest for tissue engineering applications. We describe experiments with micro-magnets and living cells that reveal the dramatic impact of a high magnetic field gradient on the spatial organization and growth of stem cells. The observed magnetic control of the stem cells is discussed from the points of view of both physics and biology
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