Hydrogel Magnetomechanical Actuator Nanoparticles for Wireless Remote Control of Mechanosignaling <i>In Vivo</i>
Sumin Jeong, Wookjin Shin, Mansoo Park, Jung-uk Lee, Yongjun Lim, Kunwoo Noh, Jae‐Hyun Lee, Young‐wook Jun, Minsuk Kwak, Jinwoo Cheon
Abstract
As a new enabling nanotechnology tool for wireless, target-specific, and long-distance stimulation of mechanoreceptors in vivo, here we present a hydrogel magnetomechanical actuator (h-MMA) nanoparticle. To allow both deep-tissue penetration of input signals and efficient force generation, h-MMA integrates a two-step transduction mechanism that converts magnetic anisotropic energy to thermal energy within its magnetic core ( i . e ., Zn 0.4 Fe 2.6 O 4 nanoparticle cluster) and then to mechanical energy to induce the surrounding polymer ( i . e ., pNiPMAm) shell contraction, finally delivering forces to activate targeted mechanoreceptors. We show that h-MMAs enable on-demand modulation of Notch signaling in both fluorescence reporter cell lines and a xenograft mouse model, demonstrating its utility as a powerful in vivo perturbation approach for mechanobiology interrogation in a minimally invasive and untethered manner.