Open AccessSilicon Nanowires for Intracellular Optical Interrogation with Subcellular Resolution
Author(s) -
Manuel Rotenberg,
Benayahu Elbaz,
V. P. Nair,
Erik N. Schaumann,
Norikazu Yamamoto,
Nivedina A. Sarma,
Laura Matino,
Francesca Santoro,
Bozhi Tian
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
nano letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.853
H-Index - 488
eISSN - 1530-6992
pISSN - 1530-6984
DOI - 10.1021/acs.nanolett.9b04624
Subject(s) - nanowire , intracellular , silicon , materials science , substrate (aquarium) , silicon nanowires , interrogation , nanotechnology , biophysics , optoelectronics , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , history , archaeology , ecology
Current techniques for intracellular electrical interrogation are limited by substrate-bound devices, technically demanding methods, or insufficient spatial resolution. In this work, we use freestanding silicon nanowires to achieve photoelectric stimulation in myofibroblasts with subcellular resolution. We demonstrate that myofibroblasts spontaneously internalize silicon nanowires and subsequently remain viable and capable of mitosis. We then show that stimulation of silicon nanowires at separate intracellular locations results in local calcium fluxes in subcellular regions. Moreover, nanowire-myofibroblast hybrids electrically couple with cardiomyocytes in coculture, and photostimulation of the nanowires increases the spontaneous activation rate in coupled cardiomyocytes. Finally, we demonstrate that this methodology can be extended to the interrogation of signaling in neuron-glia interactions using nanowire-containing oligodendrocytes.