Artificially induced cell fusion by optical tweezers manipulation

Abstract

Artificially induced cell fusion is becoming a powerful tool in developmental biology. In this paper, we verify the feasibility of an engineering laser-induced solution to achieve precise cell fusion at the single-cell level. Two cells formed a cell pair with the manipulation of optical tweezers and fused after irradiation by pulsed ultraviolet laser. Time-lapse imaging of the cells during fusion and cytoplasmic fluorescent protein transfer between the cells indicated successful cell fusion. After fusion, a binucleate cell was created when the two nuclei approached each other. The mitosis of the fused cell during continuous culture verified the viability of the cell. This artificially induced cell fusion technique provides a new opportunity for studying fusion phenomenon at the molecular and nano-scale precision levels.