On-chip analysis of C. elegans muscular forces and locomotion patterns in microstructured environments
On-chip analysis of C. elegans muscular forces and locomotion patterns in microstructured environments
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DOI：
10.1039/c3lc41403e
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发表时间：
2013-01-01
期刊：
影响因子：
6.1
通讯作者：
Wang, Wenhui
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Johari, Shazlina;Nock, Volker;Wang, Wenhui
理解生物体与其环境之间的力的相互作用在生物过程中是必不可少的。对C.秀丽线虫运动是对线虫运动力以及其他重要运动指标的测量。为了弥补目前的差距，我们提出了C。elegans肌肉力量和运动度量（速度、幅度和波长）。该分析使用聚二甲基硅氧烷（PDMS）微柱作为力传感元件，并通过改变柱的排列，引入微结构。为了显示该检测的有用性，12个野生型C。测试线虫样品蠕虫以获得总共4665个数据点。实验结果导致几个关键的发现。这些特点包括：（1）当立柱与虫体中部接触时，施加的力最大;线虫的运动力高度依赖于周围环境的结构;（3）蠕虫的波动频率和运动速度从“蜂窝”排列的窄间距到“网格"排列的宽间距逐渐增加;尽管存在PDMS微柱，秀丽线虫在微结构化装置中保持其自然的正弦运动。本文介绍的试验侧重于野生型C。elegans，但该方法可以很容易地应用于其突变体和其他生物。此外，我们还表明，通过倒置的测量设备，蠕虫运动行为可以在各种基板环境通常不利于灵活的支柱制造进行研究。在这项工作中所展示的定量测量进一步提高了对C。elegans机械感觉和运动。
The understanding of force interplays between an organism and its environment is imperative in biological processes. Noticeably scarce from the study of C. elegans locomotion is the measurement of the nematode locomotion forces together with other important locomotive metrics. To bridge the current gap, we present the investigation of C. elegans muscular forces and locomotion metrics (speed, amplitude and wavelength) in one single assay. This assay uses polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) micropillars as force sensing elements and, by variation of the pillar arrangement, introduces microstructure. To show the usefulness of the assay, twelve wild-type C. elegans sample worms were tested to obtain a total of 4665 data points. The experimental results lead to several key findings. These include: (1) maximum force is exerted when the pillar is in contact with the middle part of the worm body, (2) C. elegans locomotion forces are highly dependent on the structure of the surrounding environment, (3) the worms' undulation frequency and locomotion speed increases steadily from the narrow spacing of 'honeycomb' design to the wider spacing of 'lattice' pillar arrangement, and (4) C. elegans maintained their natural sinusoidal movement in the microstructured device, despite the existence of PDMS micropillars. The assay presented here focuses on wild type C. elegans, but the method can be easily applied to its mutants and other organisms. In addition, we also show that, by inverting the measurement device, worm locomotion behaviour can be studied in various substrate environments normally unconducive to flexible pillar fabrication. The quantitative measurements demonstrated in this work further improve the understanding of C. elegans mechanosensation and locomotion.