Monocytes use protrusive forces to generate migration paths in viscoelastic collagen-based extracellular matrices.

Circulating monocytes are recruited to the tumor microenvironment, where they can differentiate into macrophages that mediate tumor progression. To reach the tumor microenvironment, monocytes must first extravasate and migrate through the type-1 collagen rich stromal matrix. The viscoelastic stromal matrix around tumors not only stiffens relative to normal stromal matrix, but often exhibits enhanced viscous characteristics, as indicated by a higher loss tangent or faster stress relaxation rate. Here, we studied how changes in matrix stiffness and viscoelasticity, impact the three-dimensional migration of monocytes through stromal-like matrices. Interpenetrating networks of type-1 collagen and alginate, which enable independent tunability of stiffness and stress relaxation over physiologically relevant ranges, were used as confining matrices for three-dimensional culture of monocytes. Increased stiffness and faster stress relaxation independently enhanced the 3D migration of monocytes. Migrating monocytes have an ellipsoidal or rounded wedge-like morphology, reminiscent of amoeboid migration, with accumulation of actin at the trailing edge. Matrix adhesions and Rho-mediated contractility were dispensable for monocyte migration in 3D, but migration did require actin polymerization and myosin contractility. Mechanistic studies indicate that actin polymerization at the leading edge generates protrusive forces that open a path for the monocytes to migrate through in the confining viscoelastic matrices. Taken together, our findings implicate matrix stiffness and stress relaxation as key mediators of monocyte migration and reveal how monocytes use pushing forces at the leading edge mediated by actin polymerization to generate migration paths in confining viscoelastic matrices. Significance Statement: Cell migration is essential for numerous biological processes in health and disease, including for immune cell trafficking. Monocyte immune cells migrate through extracellular matrix to the tumor microenvironment where they can play a role in regulating cancer progression. Increased extracellular matrix (ECM) stiffness and viscoelasticity have been implicated in cancer progression, but the impact of these changes in the ECM on monocyte migration remains unknown. Here, we find that increased ECM stiffness and viscoelasticity promote monocyte migration. Interestingly, we reveal a previously undescribed adhesion-independent mode of migration whereby monocytes generate a path to migrate through pushing forces at the leading edge. These findings help elucidate how changes in the tumor microenvironment impact monocyte trafficking and thereby disease progression.

Real-time optical oximetry during FLASH radiotherapy using a phosphorescent nanoprobe.

The rapid depletion of oxygen during irradiation at ultra-high dose rate calls for tissue oximeters capable of high temporal resolution. This study demonstrates a water-soluble phosphorescent nanoprobe and fiber-coupled instrument, which together are used to measure the kinetics of oxygen depletion at 200 Hz during irradiation of in vitro solutions.

Engineered hydrogels for mechanobiology.

Cells' local mechanical environment can be as important in guiding cellular responses as many well-characterized biochemical cues. Hydrogels that mimic the native extracellular matrix can provide these mechanical cues to encapsulated cells, allowing for the study of their impact on cellular behaviours. Moreover, by harnessing cellular responses to mechanical cues, hydrogels can be used to create tissues in vitro for regenerative medicine applications and for disease modelling. This Primer outlines the importance and challenges of creating hydrogels that mimic the mechanical and biological properties of the native extracellular matrix. The design of hydrogels for mechanobiology studies is discussed, including appropriate choice of cross-linking chemistry and strategies to tailor hydrogel mechanical cues. Techniques for characterizing hydrogels are explained, highlighting methods used to analyze cell behaviour. Example applications for studying fundamental mechanobiological processes and regenerative therapies are provided, along with a discussion of the limitations of hydrogels as mimetics of the native extracellular matrix. The article ends with an outlook for the field, focusing on emerging technologies that will enable new insights into mechanobiology and its role in tissue homeostasis and disease.

Flow radiocytometry using droplet optofluidics.

Flow-based cytometry methods are widely used to analyze heterogeneous cell populations. However, their use for small molecule studies remains limited due to bulky fluorescent labels that often interfere with biochemical activity in cells. In contrast, radiotracers require minimal modification of their target molecules and can track biochemical processes with negligible interference and high specificity. Here, we introduce flow radiocytometry (FRCM) that broadens the scope of current cytometry methods to include beta-emitting radiotracers as probes for single cell studies. FRCM uses droplet microfluidics and radiofluorogenesis to translate the radioactivity of single cells into a fluorescent signal that is then read out using a high-throughput optofluidic device. As a proof of concept, we quantitated [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose radiotracer uptake in single human breast cancer cells and successfully assessed the metabolic flux of glucose and its heterogeneity at the cellular level. We believe FRCM has potential applications ranging from analytical assays for cancer and other diseases to development of small-molecule drugs.

Microfluidics-Coupled Radioluminescence Microscopy for In Vitro Radiotracer Kinetic Studies.

Integrated bioassay systems that combine microfluidics and radiation detectors can deliver medical radiopharmaceuticals to live cells with precise timing, while minimizing radiation dose and sample volume. However, the spatial resolution of many radiation imaging systems is limited to bulk cell populations. Here, we demonstrate microfluidics-coupled radioluminescence microscopy (µF-RLM), a new integrated system that can image radiotracer uptake in live adherent cells growing inside microincubators with spatial resolution better than 30 µm. Our method enables on-chip radionuclide imaging by incorporating an inorganic scintillator plate (CdWO4) into a microfluidic chip. We apply this approach to investigate the factors that influence the dynamic uptake of [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) by cancer cells. In the first experiment, we measured the effect of flow on FDG uptake of cells and found that a continuous flow of the radiotracer led to fourfold higher uptake than static incubation, suggesting that convective replenishment enhances molecular radiotracer transport into cells. In the second set of experiments, we applied pharmacokinetic modeling to show that lactic acidosis inhibits FDG uptake by cancer cells in vitro and that this decrease is primarily due to downregulation of FDG transport into the cells. The other two rate constants, which represent FDG export and FDG metabolism, were relatively unaffected by lactic acidosis. Lactic acidosis is common in solid tumors because of the dysregulated metabolism and inefficient vasculature. In conclusion, µF-RLM is a simple and practical approach for integrating high-resolution radionuclide imaging within standard microfluidics devices, thus potentially opening venues for investigating the efficacy of radiopharmaceuticals in in vitro cancer models.

Whole-body tracking of single cells via positron emission tomography.

In vivo molecular imaging can measure the average kinetics and movement routes of injected cells through the body. However, owing to non-specific accumulation of the contrast agent and its efflux from the cells, most of these imaging methods inaccurately estimate the distribution of the cells. Here, we show that single human breast cancer cells loaded with mesoporous silica nanoparticles concentrating the 68Ga radioisotope and injected into immunodeficient mice can be tracked in real time from the pattern of annihilation photons detected using positron emission tomography, with respect to anatomical landmarks derived from X-ray computed tomography. The cells travelled at an average velocity of 50 mm s-1 and arrested in the lungs 2-3 s after tail-vein injection into the mice, which is consistent with the blood-flow rate. Single-cell tracking could be used to determine the kinetics of cell trafficking and arrest during the earliest phase of the metastatic cascade, the trafficking of immune cells during cancer immunotherapy and the distribution of cells after transplantation.

On-demand droplet splitting using surface acoustic waves.

We demonstrated the operation of an acoustomicrofluidic device composed of a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microchannel and a slanted-finger interdigitated transducer (SF-IDT), for the on-demand splitting of droplets in an active, accurate, rapid, and size-controllable manner. A narrow beam of surface acoustic waves (SAWs) that emanated from the SF-IDT exerted an acoustic radiation force (ARF) on the droplet's water-oil interface due to the acoustic contrast between the two fluids. The ARF split the mother droplet into two or more daughter droplets of various volumes in a split ratio that was readily controlled by varying the applied voltage or the flow rate. Theoretical estimates of the ARF acting on the droplet interface were used to investigate the mechanism underlying the droplet splitting properties and size control. The versatility of the acoustomicrofluidic device operation was demonstrated by selectively pushing/placing a suspended polystyrene particle into a specific/preferred split daughter droplet using the direct ARF acting on the particle.

Transfer of Microparticles across Laminar Streams from Non-Newtonian to Newtonian Fluid.

Engineering inertial lift forces and elastic lift forces is explored to transfer microparticles across laminar streams from non-Newtonian to Newtonian fluid. A co-stream of non-Newtonian flow loaded with microparticles (9.9 and 2.0 µm in diameter) and a Newtonian carrier medium flow in a straight rectangular conduit is devised. The elastic lift forces present in the non-Newtonian fluid, undeterred by particle-particle interaction, successfully pass most of the larger (9.9 µm) particles over to the Newtonian fluid. The Newtonian fluid takes over the larger particles and focus them on the equilibrium position, separating the larger particles from the smaller particles. This mechanism enabled processing of densely suspended particle samples. The method offers dilution-free (for number densities up to 10,000 µL(-1)), high throughput (6700 beads/s), and highly efficient (>99% recovery rate, >97% purity) particle separation operated over a wide range of flow rate (2 orders of magnitude).

Lamb Wave-Based Acoustic Radiation Force-Driven Particle Ring Formation Inside a Sessile Droplet.

We demonstrate an acoustofluidic device using Lamb waves (LWs) to manipulate polystyrene (PS) microparticles suspended in a sessile droplet of water. The LW-based acoustofluidic platform used in this study is advantageous in that the device is actuated over a range of frequencies without changing the device structure or electrode pattern. In addition, the device is simple to operate and cheap to fabricate. The LWs, produced on a piezoelectric substrate, attenuate inside the fluid and create acoustic streaming flow (ASF) in the form of a poloidal flow with toroidal vortices. The PS particles experience direct acoustic radiation force (ARF) in addition to being influenced by the ASF, which drive the concentration of particles to form a ring. This phenomenon was previously attributed to the ASF alone, but the present experimental results confirm that the ARF plays an important role in forming the particle ring, which would not be possible in the presence of only the ASF. We used a range of actuation frequencies (45-280 MHz), PS particle diameters (1-10 µm), and droplet volumes (5, 7.5, and 10 µL) to experimentally demonstrate this phenomenon.