Abstract
Abstract Since the time of their introduction, optical tweezers (OTs) have grown to be a powerful tool in the hands of biologists. OTs use highly focused laser light to guide, manipulate, or sort target objects, typically in the nanoscale to microscale range. OTs have been particularly useful in making quantitative measurements of forces acting in cellular systems; they can reach inside living cells and be used to study the mechanical properties of the fluids and structures that they contain. As all the measurements are conducted without physically contacting the system under study, they also avoid complications related to contamination and tissue damage. From the manipulation of fluorescent nanodiamonds to chromosomes, cells, and free-swimming bacteria, OTs have now been extended to challenging biological systems such as the vestibular system in zebrafish. Here, we will give an overview of OTs, the complications that arise in carrying out OTs in vivo, and specific OT methods that have been used to address a range of otherwise inaccessible biological questions.
Highlights
The demonstration of optical forces in the early 1970s by Nobel laureate Arthur Ashkin [1, 2] led to the inventionIn general, molecules, cells, and biological tissues absorb light, which gives rise to localized and potentially harmful heating
From the manipulation of fluorescent nanodiamonds to chromosomes, cells, and free-swimming bacteria, optical tweezers (OTs) have been extended to challenging biological systems such as the vestibular system in zebrafish
We will give an overview of OTs, the complications that arise in carrying out OTs in vivo, and specific OT methods that have been used to address a range of otherwise inaccessible biological questions
Summary
The demonstration of optical forces in the early 1970s by Nobel laureate Arthur Ashkin [1, 2] led to the invention. It has been demonstrated that evanescent fields can be focused well beyond the diffraction limit to create traps of this depth [33,34,35] This can be achieved using the plasmon nano-optics, where the metallic nanostructures support surface resonances and enable the control of light down to nanometer scales [36]. Recent comprehensive reviews on OTs have covered the physical theory and modeling of optical trapping [11, 39, 40], single-cell manipulation and mechanical characterization [29, 41], the biophysical analysis of single molecules [42, 43], and recent advances and possible future developments in the field [44,45,46] In this current review, we focus on the application of OTs for the study of biology, ranging from molecules to macroscopic tissues. When the diameter of a trapped particle is much smaller than the wavelength of light used for trapping, the particle can be treated as a point dipole in an inhomogeneous electromagnetic field and will follow the intensity gradient toward the center
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