Attachment of mechanical parts to microorganisms using avidin/biotin bonding for giving the high functionality as living micromachines

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K12880
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Biomedical engineering/Biomaterial science and engineering
• Research Institution: Tokyo Denki University
• Principal Investigator: ITO Akitoshi 東京電機大学, 工学部, 教授 (50211743)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: バクテリア / 行動制御 / アビジンビーズ / 作業用具 / マイクロマシン

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We examined the possibility of using an avidin-biotin bond to attach an object to a protist or a bacterium. Biotin coating on protists was difficult to process without loss of physiological activity. On the other hand, bacteria can be coated while maintaining physiological activity, and natural adhesion by mixed culture and forced adhesion using optical tweezers and micropipette were examined. The latter is still difficult to bond to the target position because of its small size. In the former case, beads are often attached in front of the cells, and large beads can be attached for high-speed swimming, which is promising as a power source. In addition, the cells may be in a continuously rotating tethered cell state, which can be applied to give continuous vibration.

Free Research Field

メカノバイオフージョンシステム

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

サイズの小さいバクテリアに機械的仕事をさせようという試みはほとんどなく，生物学の実験においてアビジン・ビオチン結合は利用されているものの，それをマイクロマシンの作業用具に利用しようという視点で使う研究はない．今回の研究で，枯草菌の菌体前方にアビジンビーズを接着したものが，枯草菌の化学走性で操ることで，動くマイクロビーズとして物体輸送に利用可能であることを示せたことは学術的，社会的に意義がある．また，菌体が連続回転するテザードセル状態のバクテリアを，ビーズをコントロールすることで弱い連続振動を与える振動減として利用可能であることを示せたのも，学術的・社会的に意義深いと考えている．