Guiding cellular activity with polarized light

Actin, cytoskeleton protein forming microfilaments, play a crucial role in cellular motility. Here we show that exposure to very low levels of polarized light guide their orientation in-vivo within the live cell. Using a simple model to describe the role of actin-filament orientation in directional cellular motion, we demonstrate that the actin polymerization/depolymerization mechanism develops primarily along this direction and, under certain conditions, can lead to guidance of the cell movement. Our results also show a dose dependent increase in actin activity in direct correspondence to the level of laser irradiance. We found that total expression of Tau protein, which stabilize microtubules, was decreased by the irradiance, indicating that exposure to the light may change the activity of kinase, leading to increased cell activity.