Mechanical Activation of Immune T Cells via a Water Driven Nanomotor

作者：Xie, Dazhi; Fu, Dongmei; Fu, Shaoming; Chen, Bin; He, Weidong; Wilson, Daniela A.; Peng, Fei^*

来源：Advanced Healthcare Materials, 2022, 11(12): 2200042.

DOI：10.1002/adhm.202200042

• calcium ion channels
• mechanical sensitivity
• nanomotors
• T cells

As a key step during immune response, antigen recognition requires direct mechanical interaction between T cells and antigen presenting cells. Upon subjection to mechanical forces, mechanotransduction is triggered. In this study, the mechanical forces generated by water driven synthetic Au-Zn nanomotors are used to activate mechanosensitive Jurkat T cells. The triggering and activation of the cellular Ca-2(+) channel is observed. It is revealed that the mechanosensitive cells experience different degrees of activation upon receiving different mechanical input signals and demonstrate that external mechanical forces can optimize T cell activation. Compared with T cell activation with cytokines which can lead to the risky widespread activation of T cells and systemic immune storm, nanomotors can present mechanical force and achieve localized immune cell stimulation. It is expected that mechano nanomotors will contribute to the emerging T cell immunology field and facilitate more comprehensive understanding of the T cell mechanical response and function.

• 单位
  中山大学; 南方医科大学