Underwater micro-propulsion mechanism by concentration gradient learned from leukocytes and the application to drug delivery system with the function

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21K19918
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 90:Biomedical engineering and related fields
• Research Institution: Kyushu Institute of Technology
• Principal Investigator: TAMAGAWA Masaaki 九州工業大学, 大学院生命体工学研究科, 教授 (80227264)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-07-09 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 白血球 / 水中推進機構 / 濃度マランゴニ効果 / 走化性

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this investigation, to find out the mechanism by which neutrophil propel themselves through water under a cytokine concentration gradient and developing new microparticles for DDS, the motion of a neutrophil in water due to a concentration gradient was focused by two-dimensional measurements of the neutrophil motion and concentration transport around it under an optical microscope, and the rotational motion of the neutrophil was measured, and the mechanism by which neutrophil are driven by the concentration gradient on their surfaces was elucidated. It is concluded that (1) a neutrophil has a semi-rotary motion when propelling itself under a concentration gradient in water by concentration distribution measurements on the neutrophil membrane, (2) the semi-rotary motion of the neutrophil is contributed for the underwater propulsion by one-dimensional simplified theoretical model analysis and CFD simulation analysis of cytokine concentration transport.

Free Research Field

流体工学，生体医工学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

白血球から免疫機構であるサイトカイン濃度勾配による水中推進の原理を学ぶことで，人体内の薬物搬送システム（ドラッグデリバリーシステム）への応用が可能となり，医療工学や製薬のみならずその移動の現象解明に貢献できる．