Cellular level robotic surgery: Nanodissection of intermediate filaments in live keratinocytes.

Journal: Nanomedicine : nanotechnology, biology, and medicine
PMID: 25200612

Abstract

We present the nanosurgery on the cytoskeleton of live cells using AFM based nanorobotics to achieve adhesiolysis and mimic the effect of pathophysiological modulation of intercellular adhesion. Nanosurgery successfully severs the intermediate filament bundles and disrupts cell-cell adhesion similar to the desmosomal protein disassembly in autoimmune disease, or the cationic modulation of desmosome formation. Our nanomechanical analysis revealed that adhesion loss results in a decrease in cellular stiffness in both cases of biochemical modulation of the desmosome junctions and mechanical disruption of intercellular adhesion, supporting the notion that intercellular adhesion through intermediate filaments anchors the cell structure as focal adhesion does and that intermediate filaments are integral components in cell mechanical integrity. The surgical process could potentially help reveal the mechanism of autoimmune pathology-induced cell-cell adhesion loss as well as its related pathways that lead to cell apoptosis.

Authors

  • Ruiguo Yang
    Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA.
  • Bo Song
    Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA.
  • Zhiyong Sun
    Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA.
  • King Wai Chiu Lai
    Department of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
  • Carmen Kar Man Fung
    Hong Kong Productivity Council, Hong Kong.
  • Kevin C Patterson
    College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA.
  • Kristina Seiffert-Sinha
    Department of Dermatology, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, 14203, USA.
  • Animesh A Sinha
    Department of Dermatology, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, 14203, USA. Electronic address: aasinha@buffalo.edu.
  • Ning Xi
    Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA. Electronic address: xin@egr.msu.edu.

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