The magnet will show the direction of ESK development
Now stem cells can be controlled with a magnet
French scientists have injected iron nanoparticles into mouse embryonic stem cells. This allowed them to use a magnet to give the cells the right structure and even influence their differentiation.
The developers of modern cellular technologies have high hopes for stem cells. For example, to obtain cells of a certain type, embryonic stem cells can be used, which are isolated from embryos in the early stages. Then, acting on cells by chemical and mechanical factors, differentiation is triggered in them, that is, they are forced to acquire properties characteristic of the desired cell type. But at the same time it turns out to be important to correctly position the cells in space. In a real embryo, cells form a three-dimensional structure. And if we want to imitate the differentiation processes occurring in the embryo, then this structure needs to be recreated. This is especially true of connective tissues, in particular cardiac muscle tissue.
There are several technologies for creating three-dimensional structures from embryonic stem cells. This is free cultivation (while the cells themselves slide into groups), cultivation on an artificial three-dimensional frame and cultivation in a hanging drop. The latter method is currently the most popular, because it does not require artificial substrates (the cells in the drop are limited in space, and they have to move closer together) and allows you to simulate the real situation in the embryo better than others.
A group of scientists from Paris has developed an alternative method of culturing mouse cells, which allows not only to grow cells in conditions close to real ones, but also to regulate the size and shape of the structure they form. The researchers added magnetic iron nanoparticles to the culture, and the cells absorbed them. Then, by placing a small magnet under the glass on which the culture grows, the scientists forced the cells to form spherical clusters. After a few days, the magnets were removed, but the spherical structures remained unchanged – the cells managed to establish cellular contacts with each other.
In a number of experiments, scientists have confirmed that magnetic particles do not affect the physiology of cells, and the expression of genes characteristic of mouse stem cells is preserved better than when cultured in a hanging drop. The particles themselves are gradually disposed of by the cell, but within a week they disintegrate only by half, which allows the cells to be controlled for a long time.
With the help of magnets, you can not only collect structures from cells, but also stretch them. It is believed that surface tension is an important factor affecting the fate of cells in the embryo. By acting with two magnets from different sides on the culture of mouse embryonic stem cells, the researchers were able to launch differentiation into cardiac muscle tissue in them. And rhythmic compression-stretching with the help of magnets, simulating the contraction of a developing heart, further enhanced the effect.
The study is published in the journal Nature Communications.
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13.09.2017