ArticleNature communications2021
Optoregulated force application to cellular receptors using molecular motors.
Article in Nature communications, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 35 citations in OpenAlex.
- Single Cell Mechanics in Disease Progression.Small science · 2026Review
- Rotor-stator repulsion and medium-induced dephasing enhance and equalise the quantum efficiency of a fluorinated photon-only rotary motor.Nature communications · 2026Article
- An Opto-Actuated Hydrogel for Cell Mechanoactuation and Real-Time Force Monitoring.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Photothermally Powered 3D Microgels Mechanically Regulate Mesenchymal Stem Cells Under Anisotropic Force.Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) · 2026Article
- Photoisomerizing molecules in biological membranes.Nature reviews. Chemistry · 2026Review
- A magneto-responsive nanomesh biosensor for simultaneous mechanical stimulation and electrochemical detection.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Nanotechnology for CAR T cells and tumour-infiltrating lymphocyte therapies.Nature nanotechnology · 2025Review
- 3D hydrogel platform with macromolecular actuators for precisely controlled mechanical forces on cancer cell migration.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Dynamics of a light-driven molecular rotary motor in an optical cavity.Nature communications · 2025Article
- General Synthetic Methodologies for Building Blocks to Construct Molecular Motors.The Journal of organic chemistry · 2025Review
- Focal adhesions are controlled by microtubules through local contractility regulation.The EMBO journal · 2024Article
- Evolution of the Microrobots: Stimuli-Responsive Materials and Additive Manufacturing Technologies Turn Small Structures into Microscale Robots.Micromachines · 2024Review
- Enlightening dynamic functions in molecular systems by intrinsically chiral light-driven molecular motors.Chemical Society reviews · 2023Review
- Accounts of applied molecular rotors and rotary motors: recent advances.Nanoscale advances · 2023Review
- Hydrogel platform capable of molecularly resolved pulling on cells for mechanotransduction.Materials today. Bio · 2022Article
- Photoinduced Autonomous Nonequilibrium Operation of a Molecular Shuttle by Combined Isomerization and Proton Transfer Through a Catalytic Pathway.Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2022Article
- Artificial molecular motors induce a mechanical response in cells.Communications chemistry · 2021Article
- High-efficacy subcellular micropatterning of proteins using fibrinogen anchors.The Journal of cell biology · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
15 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Progress in our understanding of mechanotransduction events requires noninvasive methods for the manipulation of forces at molecular scale in physiological environments. Inspired by cellular mechanisms for force application (i.e. motor proteins pulling on cytoskeletal fibers), we present a unique molecular machine that can apply forces at cell-matrix and cell-cell junctions using light as an energy source. The key actuator is a light-driven rotatory molecular motor linked to polymer chains, which is intercalated between a membrane receptor and an engineered biointerface. The light-driven actuation of the molecular motor is converted in mechanical twisting of the entangled polymer chains, which will in turn effectively "pull" on engaged cell membrane receptors (e.g., integrins, T cell receptors) within the illuminated area. Applied forces have physiologically-relevant magnitude and occur at time scales within the relevant ranges for mechanotransduction at cell-friendly exposure conditions, as demonstrated in force-dependent focal adhesion maturation and T cell activation experiments. Our results reveal the potential of nanomotors for the manipulation of living cells at the molecular scale and demonstrate a functionality which at the moment cannot be achieved by other technologies for force application.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.