Laser-assisted microbiology: engineering of microbial systems
with laser bioprinting
N.V. Minaev1*, V.S. Zhigarkov1, V.S. Cheptsov12, V.I. Yusupov1
1-Institute of Photon Technologies of Kurchatov Complex Crystallography and Photonics, NRC "Kurchatov
Institute", Pionerskaya St. 2, 108840 Moscow, Troitsk, Russia 2- Soil Science Faculty, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Leninskie Gory bld.12, 119991 Moscow, Russia
* minaevn@gmail.com
The technologies of laser-induced forward transfer of living cells objects (cells aggregates -spheroids [1,2], microorganisms [3-5]) are widely used in biomedicine and microbiology for printing prototype of biological tissue [1,2], isolating of microorganisms [4], separation of symbiotic microorganisms [6], giving the cells of living microorganisms unusual properties [7].
As a result of our research, it was shown that it is possible to select a spatial transfer mode [8], when the impact of negative factors on living systems is minimal. Among such negative factors are: metal nanoparticles formed during the destruction of the absorbing donor coating [9,10], shock and acoustic waves [11,12], temperature surges [13], exposure of transmitted laser radiation [14], high dynamic loads [14] and the influence of the external environment [8].
The influence of some negative factors can be avoided by switching to other principles of laser printing and hardware implementation. For example, the use of infrared radiation with a wavelength of ~3 microns [15,16] allows laser printing with a donor plate without a metal absorbing layers and, thus, getting rid of the negative influence of nanoparticles. The availability of the laser printing method for practical problems of microbiology has significantly increased due to recent advances in the field of laser technology, incl. affordable hardware emerging that developed and manufactured in Russia. We have developed prototypes of various types of laser bioprinting systems, with the help of which we have demonstrated the high efficiency and usefulness of the presented method for microbiological problems. Currently, a mobile laser bioprinting system is being developed, which is unpretentious and relatively small in size, which will allow long-awaited experiments to be carried out in an "on-site" mode on the territory of specialized microbiology institutions.
Among the latest achievements [7] obtained using the Laser Engineering of Microbial Systems (LEMS) method, the following result can be highlighted. It has been shown that LIMS does not cause significant damage to the plasmalemma of cells, but for a short time leads to a significant increase in the permeability of cell membranes. This phenomenon requires further study and is of great interest from a practical point of view, for example, for the use of LEMS for introducing various molecules into cells.
This work was supported by the Grant from the Russian Science Foundation 20-14-00286.
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