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Lee WS, Enomoto T, Akimoto AM, Yoshida R. Emergent Synchronous Volumetric Oscillation in Hierarchically Structured Self-Oscillating Gel Clusters. J Phys Chem B 2024; 128:5268-5279. [PMID: 38759232 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.4c01821] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/19/2024]
Abstract
Emergent properties accompanying synchronization among oscillators are vital characteristics in biological systems. Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) oscillators are an artificial model to study the emergence and synchronization in life. This research represents a self-oscillating gel system with clusterable properties to experimentally examine synchronous and emergent properties at a fundamental hierarchical level. Incorporating acrylic acid (AAc) moieties within the gel network facilitates cluster formation through hydrogen bonding in an acidic BZ substrate solution. Upon clustering, both homogeneous and heterogeneous gel assemblies─ranging from double to quadruple clusters─exhibit increased and synchronized periods and amplitudes during the BZ reaction. Notably, in heterogeneous clusters, gel units with initially short periods and small volumetric amplitudes display a significant increase, aligning with the lonfger periods and larger amplitudes of other elements within the cluster, an emergent property. This research can pave the way for a better understanding of synchronous and emergent properties in biological oscillators such as cardiomyocytes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Won Seok Lee
- Department of Materials Engineering, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan
| | - Takafumi Enomoto
- Department of Materials Engineering, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan
| | - Aya Mizutani Akimoto
- Department of Materials Engineering, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan
| | - Ryo Yoshida
- Department of Materials Engineering, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan
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Jiménez A, Lu Y, Jambhekar A, Lahav G. Principles, mechanisms and functions of entrainment in biological oscillators. Interface Focus 2022; 12:20210088. [PMID: 35450280 PMCID: PMC9010850 DOI: 10.1098/rsfs.2021.0088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2021] [Accepted: 03/07/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Entrainment is a phenomenon in which two oscillators interact with each other, typically through physical or chemical means, to synchronize their oscillations. This phenomenon occurs in biology to coordinate processes from the molecular to organismal scale. Biological oscillators can be entrained within a single cell, between cells or to an external input. Using six illustrative examples of entrainable biological oscillators, we discuss the distinctions between entrainment and synchrony and explore features that contribute to a system's propensity to entrain. Entrainment can either enhance or reduce the heterogeneity of oscillations within a cell population, and we provide examples and mechanisms of each case. Finally, we discuss the known functions of entrainment and discuss potential functions from an evolutionary perspective.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alba Jiménez
- Department of Systems Biology, Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Ying Lu
- Department of Systems Biology, Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Ashwini Jambhekar
- Department of Systems Biology, Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Ludwig Center at Harvard, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Galit Lahav
- Department of Systems Biology, Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Ludwig Center at Harvard, Boston, MA 02115, USA
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Shimoda K, Watanabe H, Hondo Y, Sentoku M, Sakamoto K, Yasuda K. In Situ Agarose Microfabrication Technology Using Joule Heating of Micro Ionic Current for On-Chip Cell Network Analysis. MICROMACHINES 2022; 13:mi13020174. [PMID: 35208299 PMCID: PMC8880086 DOI: 10.3390/mi13020174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2021] [Revised: 01/18/2022] [Accepted: 01/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Agarose microfabrication technology is one of the micropatterning techniques of cells having advantages of simple and flexible real-time fabrication of three-dimensional confinement microstructures even during cell cultivation. However, the conventional photothermal etching procedure of focused infrared laser on thin agarose layer has several limitations, such as the undesired sudden change of etched width caused by the local change of absorbance of the bottom surface of cultivation plate, especially on the indium-tin-oxide (ITO) wiring on the multi-electrode array (MEA) cultivation chip. To overcome these limitations, we have developed a new agarose etching method exploiting the Joule heating of focused micro ionic current at the tip of the micrometer-sized capillary tube. When 75 V, 1 kHz AC voltage was applied to the tapered microcapillary tube, in which 1 M sodium ion buffer was filled, the formed micro ionic current at the open end of the microcapillary tube melted the thin agarose layer and formed stable 5 μm width microstructures regardless the ITO wiring, and the width was controlled by the change of applied voltage squared. We also found the importance of the higher frequency of applied AC voltage to form the stable microstructures and also minimize the fluctuation of melted width. The results indicate that the focused micro ionic current can create stable local spot heating in the medium buffer as the Joule heating of local ionic current and can perform the same quality of microfabrication as the focused infrared laser absorption procedure with a simple set-up of the system and several advantages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenji Shimoda
- Department of Pure and Applied Physics, Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Waseda University, Tokyo 169-8555, Japan; (K.S.); (H.W.); (Y.H.); (M.S.); (K.S.)
| | - Haruki Watanabe
- Department of Pure and Applied Physics, Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Waseda University, Tokyo 169-8555, Japan; (K.S.); (H.W.); (Y.H.); (M.S.); (K.S.)
| | - Yoshitsune Hondo
- Department of Pure and Applied Physics, Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Waseda University, Tokyo 169-8555, Japan; (K.S.); (H.W.); (Y.H.); (M.S.); (K.S.)
| | - Mitsuru Sentoku
- Department of Pure and Applied Physics, Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Waseda University, Tokyo 169-8555, Japan; (K.S.); (H.W.); (Y.H.); (M.S.); (K.S.)
| | - Kazufumi Sakamoto
- Department of Pure and Applied Physics, Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Waseda University, Tokyo 169-8555, Japan; (K.S.); (H.W.); (Y.H.); (M.S.); (K.S.)
| | - Kenji Yasuda
- Department of Pure and Applied Physics, Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Waseda University, Tokyo 169-8555, Japan; (K.S.); (H.W.); (Y.H.); (M.S.); (K.S.)
- Department of Physics, School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Waseda University, 3-4-1 Okubo, Shinjuku, Tokyo 169-8555, Japan
- Correspondence:
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Tanaka Y, Watanabe H, Shimoda K, Sakamoto K, Hondo Y, Sentoku M, Sekine R, Kikuchi T, Yasuda K. Stepwise neuronal network pattern formation in agarose gel during cultivation using non-destructive microneedle photothermal microfabrication. Sci Rep 2021; 11:14656. [PMID: 34282174 PMCID: PMC8289850 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-93988-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2021] [Accepted: 07/05/2021] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Conventional neuronal network pattern formation techniques cannot control the arrangement of axons and dendrites because network structures must be fixed before neurite differentiation. To overcome this limitation, we developed a non-destructive stepwise microfabrication technique that can be used to alter microchannels within agarose to guide neurites during elongation. Micropatterns were formed in thin agarose layer coating of a cultivation dish using the tip of a 0.7 [Formula: see text]-diameter platinum-coated glass microneedle heated by a focused 1064-nm wavelength infrared laser, which has no absorbance of water. As the size of the heat source was 0.7 [Formula: see text], which is smaller than the laser wavelength, the temperature fell to 45 [Formula: see text] within a distance of 7.0 [Formula: see text] from the edge of the etched agarose microchannel. We exploited the fast temperature decay property to guide cell-to-cell connection during neuronal network cultivation. The first neurite of a hippocampal cell from a microchamber was guided to a microchannel leading to the target neuron with stepwise etching of the micrometer resolution microchannel in the agarose layer, and the elongated neurites were not damaged by the heat of etching. The results indicate the potential of this new technique for fully direction-controlled on-chip neuronal network studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuhei Tanaka
- Department of Pure and Applied Physics, Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Waseda University, Tokyo, 169-8555, Japan
| | - Haruki Watanabe
- Department of Pure and Applied Physics, Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Waseda University, Tokyo, 169-8555, Japan
| | - Kenji Shimoda
- Department of Pure and Applied Physics, Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Waseda University, Tokyo, 169-8555, Japan
| | - Kazufumi Sakamoto
- Department of Pure and Applied Physics, Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Waseda University, Tokyo, 169-8555, Japan
| | - Yoshitsune Hondo
- Department of Pure and Applied Physics, Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Waseda University, Tokyo, 169-8555, Japan
| | - Mitsuru Sentoku
- Department of Pure and Applied Physics, Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Waseda University, Tokyo, 169-8555, Japan
| | - Rikuto Sekine
- Department of Physics, School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Waseda University, Tokyo, 169-8555, Japan
| | - Takahito Kikuchi
- Department of Pure and Applied Physics, Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Waseda University, Tokyo, 169-8555, Japan
| | - Kenji Yasuda
- Department of Pure and Applied Physics, Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Waseda University, Tokyo, 169-8555, Japan.
- Department of Physics, School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Waseda University, Tokyo, 169-8555, Japan.
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Abstract
After first describing the issue contents (Biophysical Reviews-Volume 12 Issue 6), this Editorial goes on to provide a short round-up of the activities of the journal in 2020. Directly following this Editorial are two obituaries marking the recent deaths of Prof. Fumio Oosawa (Japan) and Dr. Herbert Tabor (USA)-two major figures in Biophysical/Biochemical science from the last 100 years.
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Affiliation(s)
- Damien Hall
- Department of Life Sciences and Applied Chemistry, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Gokiso Showa, Nagoya, 466-8555 Japan
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Hall D. Biophysical Reviews' national biophysical society partnership program. Biophys Rev 2020; 12:187-192. [PMID: 32350823 PMCID: PMC7242517 DOI: 10.1007/s12551-020-00693-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2020] [Accepted: 03/06/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
This Special Issue is focused on the Biophysical Society of Japan. It represents the first in a series tasked with introducing an individual national biophysical society to the wider biophysical community. In this Editorial for Volume 12 Issue 2, I first outline the nature and goals of this program before going on to describe the contents of the Special Issue that relate to the activities organized by the Biophysical Society of Japan and the scope of the research performed by its members.
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Affiliation(s)
- Damien Hall
- Laboratory of Biochemistry and Genetics, NIDDK, NIH, Bld. 8, Bethesda, MD, 20892-0830, USA.
- Institute for Protein Research, Osaka University, 3-1-Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan.
- Department of Life Science and Applied Chemistry, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Nagoya, Japan.
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