Hydrogel Magnetomechanical Actuator Nanoparticles for Wireless Remote Control of Mechanosignaling <i>In Vivo</i>.

Jeong, Sumin; Shin, Wookjin; Park, Mansoo; Lee, Jung-Uk; Lim, Yongjun; Noh, Kunwoo; Lee, Jae-Hyun; Jun, Young-Wook et al. · Nano Lett · 2023

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

As a new enabling nanotechnology tool for wireless, target-specific, and long-distance stimulation of mechanoreceptors <i>in vivo</i>, here we present a hydrogel magnetomechanical actuator (h-MMA) nanoparticle. To allow both deep-tissue penetration of input signals and efficient force generation, h-MMA integrates a two-step transduction mechanism that converts magnetic anisotropic energy to thermal energy within its magnetic core (<i>i</i>.<i>e</i>., Zn<sub>0.4</sub>Fe<sub>2.6</sub>O<sub>4</sub> nanoparticle cluster) and then to mechanical energy to induce the surrounding polymer (<i>i</i>.<i>e</i>., pNiPMAm) shell contraction, finally delivering forces to activate targeted mechanoreceptors. We show that h-MMAs enable on-demand modulation of Notch signaling in both fluorescence reporter cell lines and a xenograft mouse model, demonstrating its utility as a powerful <i>in vivo</i> perturbation approach for mechanobiology interrogation in a minimally invasive and untethered manner.

Medical subject headings