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Micromachines
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Mechanobiology and Biologically Inspired Engineering
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Mechanobiology and Biologically Inspired Engineering

A special issue of Micromachines (ISSN 2072-666X). This special issue belongs to the section "B：Biology and Biomedicine".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2020) | Viewed by 15976

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Dong-Hwee Kim

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
KU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology, Korea University, Seoul 02841, Korea
Interests: mechanobiology; biotechnology; physics of cancer; biomaterials; organ on chip; tissue regeneration; MEMS

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

There has been a shift in the paradigm of developing medical biotechnologies to overcome diverse human health issues. The traditional use of animals to develop medicines for humans is confronting ethical problems around the world as well as inconsistencies between humans and animals and cost issues. We, therefore, are trying to find new methods based on mechanobiology, which is located at the intersection between physical sciences and life sciences. This will necessarily require the convergence of diverse scientific disciplines at the molecular, cellular, tissue, and organ levels. Ultimately, scientific discoveries will evolve toward the development of biologically inspired microsystems able to diagnose diseases and provide a direction for specific therapies. Based on collective evidence, this Special Issue will address very recent discoveries in the field of mechanobiology and introduce cutting-edge technologies for biologically inspired microsystems.

Prof. Dr. Dong-Hwee Kim
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Micromachines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Mechanobiology
  • Biologically inspired microsystems
  • MEMS
  • Organ on chip
  • Biotechnology

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 53445 KiB  
Article
Collective Polarization of Cancer Cells at the Monolayer Boundary
by Liu-Yuan Guan, Jian-Qing Lv, De-Qing Zhang and Bo Li
Micromachines 2021, 12(2), 112; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi12020112 - 22 Jan 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2513
Abstract
Cell polarization, a process depending on both intracellular and intercellular interactions, is crucial for collective cell migration that commonly emerges in embryonic development, tissue morphogenesis, wound healing and cancer metastasis. Although invasive cancer cells display weak cell–cell interactions, they can invade host tissues [...] Read more.
Cell polarization, a process depending on both intracellular and intercellular interactions, is crucial for collective cell migration that commonly emerges in embryonic development, tissue morphogenesis, wound healing and cancer metastasis. Although invasive cancer cells display weak cell–cell interactions, they can invade host tissues through a collective mode. Yet, how cancer cells without stable cell–cell junctions polarize collectively to migrate and invade is not fully understood. Here, using a wound-healing assay, we elucidate the polarization of carcinoma cells at the population level. We show that with loose intercellular connections, the highly polarized leader cells can induce the polarization of following cancer cells and subsequent transmission of polarity information by membrane protrusions, leading to gradient polarization at the monolayer boundary. Unlike the polarization of epithelial monolayer where Rac1/Cdc42 pathway functions primarily, our data show that collective polarization of carcinoma cells is predominantly controlled by Golgi apparatus, a disruption of which results in the destruction of collective polarization over a large scale. We reveal that the Golgi apparatus can sustain membrane protrusion formation, polarized secretion, intracellular trafficking, and F-actin polarization, which contribute to collective cancer cell polarization and its transmission between cells. These findings could advance our understanding of collective cancer invasion in tumors. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mechanobiology and Biologically Inspired Engineering)
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10 pages, 2495 KiB  
Article
Microfluidic Device with an Integrated Freeze-Dried Cell-Free Protein Synthesis System for Small-Volume Biosensing
by Taishi Tonooka
Micromachines 2021, 12(1), 27; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi12010027 - 29 Dec 2020
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2637
Abstract
Microfluidic devices enable the precise operation of liquid samples in small volumes. This motivates why microfluidic devices have been applied to point-of-care (PoC) liquid biopsy. Among PoC liquid biopsy studies, some report diagnostic reagents being freeze-dried in such microfluidic devices. This type of [...] Read more.
Microfluidic devices enable the precise operation of liquid samples in small volumes. This motivates why microfluidic devices have been applied to point-of-care (PoC) liquid biopsy. Among PoC liquid biopsy studies, some report diagnostic reagents being freeze-dried in such microfluidic devices. This type of PoC microfluidic device has distinct advantages, such as simplicity of the procedures, compared with other PoC devices using liquid-type diagnostic reagents. Despite the attractive characteristic, only diagnostic reagents based on the cloned enzyme donor immunoassay (CEDIA) have been freeze-dried in the microfluidic device. However, development of the PoC device based on the CEDIA method is time-consuming and labor-intensive. Here, we employed a molecule-responsive protein synthesis system as the diagnostic reagent to be freeze-dried in the microfluidic device. Such molecule-responsive protein synthesis has been well investigated in the field of molecular biology. Therefore, using the accumulated information, PoC devices can be efficiently developed. Thus, we developed a microfluidic device with an integrated freeze-dried molecule-responsive protein synthesis system. Using the developed device, we detected two types of bio-functional molecules (i.e., bacterial quorum sensing molecules and mercury ions) by injecting 1 µL of sample solution containing these molecules. We showed that the developed device is applicable for small-volume biosensing. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mechanobiology and Biologically Inspired Engineering)
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12 pages, 2390 KiB  
Article
Biological Aging Modulates Cell Migration via Lamin A/C-Dependent Nuclear Motion
by Jung-Won Park, Seong-Beom Han, Jungwon Hah, Geonhui Lee, Jeong-Ki Kim, Soo Hyun Kim and Dong-Hwee Kim
Micromachines 2020, 11(9), 801; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi11090801 - 24 Aug 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2376
Abstract
Aging is a progressive functional decline in organs and tissues over time and typically represents the accumulation of psychological and social changes in a human being. Diverse diseases, such as cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, and neurodegenerative disorders, are now understood to be caused by aging. [...] Read more.
Aging is a progressive functional decline in organs and tissues over time and typically represents the accumulation of psychological and social changes in a human being. Diverse diseases, such as cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, and neurodegenerative disorders, are now understood to be caused by aging. While biological assessment of aging mainly focuses on the gradual changes that occur either on the molecular scale, for example, alteration of gene expression and epigenetic modification, or on larger scales, for example, changes in muscle strength and cardiac function, the mechanics that regulates the behavior of individual cells and interactions between the internal elements of cells, are largely missing. In this study, we show that the dynamic features of migrating cells across different human ages could help to establish the underlying mechanism of biological age-dependent cellular functional decline. To determine the relationship between cellular dynamics and human age, we identify the characteristic relationship between cell migration and nuclear motion which is tightly regulated by nucleus-bound cytoskeletal organization. This analysis demonstrates that actomyosin contractility-dependent nuclear motion plays a key role in cell migration. We anticipate this study to provide noble biophysical insights on biological aging in order to precisely diagnose age-related chronic diseases. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mechanobiology and Biologically Inspired Engineering)
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13 pages, 1633 KiB  
Article
RhoA and Rac1 in Liver Cancer Cells: Induction of Overexpression Using Mechanical Stimulation
by Sharda Yadav, Navid Kashaninejad and Nam-Trung Nguyen
Micromachines 2020, 11(8), 729; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi11080729 - 28 Jul 2020
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 2760
Abstract
Liver cancer, especially hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), is an aggressive disease with an extremely high mortality rate. Unfortunately, no promising markers are currently available for the early diagnosis of this disease. Thus, a reliable biomarker reflecting the early behaviour of the tumour will be [...] Read more.
Liver cancer, especially hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), is an aggressive disease with an extremely high mortality rate. Unfortunately, no promising markers are currently available for the early diagnosis of this disease. Thus, a reliable biomarker reflecting the early behaviour of the tumour will be valuable for diagnosis and treatment. The Ras homologous (Rho) GTPases, which belong to the small guanosine triphosphate (GTP) binding proteins, have been reported to play an important role in mediating liver cancer based on their important function in cytoskeletal reorganisation. These proteins can be either oncogenic or tumour suppressors. They are also associated with the acquirement of malignant features by cancer cells. The overexpression of RhoA and Rac1, members of the Rho GTPases, have been linked with carcinogenesis and the progression of different types of cancer. In the quest of elucidating the role of mechanical stimulation in the mechanobiology of liver cancer cells, this paper evaluates the effect of stretching on the expression levels of RhoA and Rac1 in different types of liver cancers. It is shown that that stretching liver cancer cells significantly increases the expression levels of RhoA and Rac1 in HCC and cholangiocarcinoma cell lines. We hypothesise that this relatively simple and sensitive method could be helpful for screening biological features and provide suitable treatment guidance for liver cancer patients. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mechanobiology and Biologically Inspired Engineering)
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Review

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33 pages, 2680 KiB  
Review
Tissue-Engineered Models for Glaucoma Research
by Renhao Lu, Paul A. Soden and Esak Lee
Micromachines 2020, 11(6), 612; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi11060612 - 24 Jun 2020
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 5156
Abstract
Glaucoma is a group of optic neuropathies characterized by the progressive degeneration of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). Patients with glaucoma generally experience elevations in intraocular pressure (IOP), followed by RGC death, peripheral vision loss and eventually blindness. However, despite the substantial economic and [...] Read more.
Glaucoma is a group of optic neuropathies characterized by the progressive degeneration of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). Patients with glaucoma generally experience elevations in intraocular pressure (IOP), followed by RGC death, peripheral vision loss and eventually blindness. However, despite the substantial economic and health-related impact of glaucoma-related morbidity worldwide, the surgical and pharmacological management of glaucoma is still limited to maintaining IOP within a normal range. This is in large part because the underlying molecular and biophysical mechanisms by which glaucomatous changes occur are still unclear. In the present review article, we describe current tissue-engineered models of the intraocular space that aim to advance the state of glaucoma research. Specifically, we critically evaluate and compare both 2D and 3D-culture models of the trabecular meshwork and nerve fiber layer, both of which are key players in glaucoma pathophysiology. Finally, we point out the need for novel organ-on-a-chip models of glaucoma that functionally integrate currently available 3D models of the retina and the trabecular outflow pathway. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mechanobiology and Biologically Inspired Engineering)
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