Abstract
Cell fusion is a critical course for all sort of biomedical applications including cell reprogramming, hybridoma formation, cancer immunotherapy, and tissue regeneration. It can be realized by using biological, chemical, or physical methods. However, efficiency and yields are limited by unstable cell contact and random cell pairings in traditional methods. Hence, improving cell contact and cell pairing are the two key factors to enhance efficiency and yields of cell fusion. This study therefore reported a new approach called optically-induced cell fusion (OICF) which integrates cell-pairing microstructures and optically-induced, localized electrical field to achieve precise cell fusion with high yields and high efficiency. By projecting light patterns on a photoconductive film (hydrogen-rich amorphous silicon, a-Si: H) coated on an indium-tin-oxide (ITO) glass while an alternating-current (AC) electric field was applied on the top and bottom ITO glasses, “virtual” electrodes would be constructed accordingly. In fact, this method could be used on several biomedical applications, including cell manipulation, cell separation, cell lysis and electroporation. Therefore, a locally enhanced electric field would be induced and the pairing cells could be precisely fused by the virtual electrodes. In this study, 57% cell paring rate and 87% fusion efficiency were achieved. Therefore, OICF is a promising method to succeed in cell fusion with high efficiency and high yields.