Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 18, 2026

Optical Control of Living Cells Electrical Activity by Conjugated Polymers
10:16

Optical Control of Living Cells Electrical Activity by Conjugated Polymers

Published on: January 28, 2016

Cell stimulation with optically manipulated microsources.

Holger Kress1, Jin-Gyu Park, Cecile O Mejean

  • 1Department of Mechanical Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA. holger.kress@yale.edu

Nature Methods
|November 17, 2009
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Texas statewide incidence and severity of iatrogenic major vascular injury during inpatient laparoscopic surgery: a population-based cohort study.

Surgical endoscopy·2026
Same author

Vascular Anchoring Bias in a Type A Aortic Dissection Survivor: Diagnostic Delays in Acute Care Evaluation of Hepatic and Urologic Pathology.

Cureus·2026
Same author

Partition Coefficients Reveal Changes in Properties of Low-Contrast Biomolecular Condensates.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026
Same author

Addressing knowledge gaps in the management of ticks and tick-borne diseases necessitates a One Health approach.

American journal of veterinary research·2026
Same author

Compostable and Recyclable Baroplastic Triblock Copolymers Enable Low-Energy Polymer Processing.

Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany)·2026
Same author

Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor-D Improves Lung Vascular Integrity During Acute Lung Injury.

Circulation research·2026
Same journal

Efficient evidence-based genome annotation with EviAnn.

Nature methods·2026
Same journal

ClairS: a deep-learning method for long-read tumor-normal pair somatic small variant calling.

Nature methods·2026
Same journal

RNAbpFlow: base pair-augmented SE(3) flow matching for conditional RNA 3D structure generation.

Nature methods·2026
Same journal

Spatio-DARLIN enables robust and efficient in situ lineage tracing in mice at single-cell resolution.

Nature methods·2026
Same journal

EasyGrid: a versatile platform for automated cryo-EM sample preparation and quality control.

Nature methods·2026
Same journal

Cloud-based microscope enables live neuroimaging for 24 h and beyond with worldwide access.

Nature methods·2026
See all related articles

Researchers developed a flexible method using optically manipulated microsources to precisely control molecular gradients for studying cell behavior. This technique precisely guides cell polarization and migration in biological research.

Area of Science:

  • Biophysics
  • Cell Biology
  • Microfluidics

Background:

  • Molecular gradients are crucial for biological processes like cell polarization and chemotaxis.
  • Studying these phenomena necessitates precise control over the cellular microenvironment.
  • Existing methods may lack the required chemical, spatial, and temporal flexibility.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To present a novel technique for creating flexible molecular concentration patterns.
  • To enable precise control over chemical microenvironments for biological investigations.
  • To demonstrate the application of this technique in manipulating cell behavior.

Main Methods:

  • Utilizing optically manipulated microsources for controlled, steady molecule release.
  • Achieving control over molecular concentrations at micrometer length scales and sub-second to hour timescales.

More Related Videos

Photostimulation by Femtosecond Laser Activates Extracellular-signal-regulated Kinase (ERK) Signaling or Mitochondrial Events in Target Cells
11:00

Photostimulation by Femtosecond Laser Activates Extracellular-signal-regulated Kinase (ERK) Signaling or Mitochondrial Events in Target Cells

Published on: July 6, 2019

Mechanical Stimulation-induced Calcium Wave Propagation in Cell Monolayers: The Example of Bovine Corneal Endothelial Cells
10:46

Mechanical Stimulation-induced Calcium Wave Propagation in Cell Monolayers: The Example of Bovine Corneal Endothelial Cells

Published on: July 16, 2013

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 18, 2026

Optical Control of Living Cells Electrical Activity by Conjugated Polymers
10:16

Optical Control of Living Cells Electrical Activity by Conjugated Polymers

Published on: January 28, 2016

Photostimulation by Femtosecond Laser Activates Extracellular-signal-regulated Kinase (ERK) Signaling or Mitochondrial Events in Target Cells
11:00

Photostimulation by Femtosecond Laser Activates Extracellular-signal-regulated Kinase (ERK) Signaling or Mitochondrial Events in Target Cells

Published on: July 6, 2019

Mechanical Stimulation-induced Calcium Wave Propagation in Cell Monolayers: The Example of Bovine Corneal Endothelial Cells
10:46

Mechanical Stimulation-induced Calcium Wave Propagation in Cell Monolayers: The Example of Bovine Corneal Endothelial Cells

Published on: July 16, 2013

  • Employing chemoattractants (formyl-methionine-leucine-phenylalanine) and inhibitors (cytochalasin D) to modulate cell responses.

    • Main Results:

    • Demonstrated precise control over molecular gradients using optical manipulation.
    • Successfully induced directed cell polarization and migration in human neutrophils using chemoattractants.
    • Triggered localized lamellipodia retraction and redirected cell polarization/migration using an actin polymerization inhibitor.

    Conclusions:

    • The developed technique offers unprecedented flexibility in creating chemical microenvironments.
    • This method is valuable for investigating cell polarization, migration, and chemotaxis.
    • Optically controlled molecular gradients provide a powerful tool for cell biology research.