Modulation of cardiomyocyte activity using pulsed laser irradiated gold nanoparticles

Biomed Opt Express. 2016 Dec 8;8(1):177-192. doi: 10.1364/BOE.8.000177. eCollection 2017 Jan 1.

Abstract

Can photothermal gold nanoparticle mediated laser manipulation be applied to induce cardiac contraction? Based on our previous work, we present a novel concept of cell stimulation. A 532 nm picosecond laser was employed to heat gold nanoparticles on cardiomyocytes. This leads to calcium oscillations in the HL-1 cardiomyocyte cell line. As calcium is connected to the contractility, we aimed to alter the contraction rate of native and stem cell derived cardiomyocytes. A contraction rate increase was particularly observed in calcium containing buffer with neonatal rat cardiomyocytes. Consequently, the study provides conceptual ideas for a light based, nanoparticle mediated stimulation system.

Keywords: (000.1430) Biology and medicine; (190.4870) Photothermal effects; (350.4855) Optical tweezers or optical manipulation.