Lee Taeha, Kang Dain, Kim Minsu, Choi Sukyung, Cheong Da Yeon, Roh Seokbeom, Oh Seung Hyeon, Park Insu, Lee Gyudo
Department of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Korea University, Sejong 30019, South Korea.
Interdisciplinary Graduate Program for Artificial Intelligence Smart Convergence Technology, Korea University, Sejong 30019, South Korea.
ACS Omega. 2023 Oct 25;8(44):41649-41654. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.3c05560. eCollection 2023 Nov 7.
() is a unicellular protist with unique properties, such as learning and remembering in its cultured environment without a brain or central nervous system. The organism has been extensively used in morphology, taxis, and positive feedback dynamics studies. However, the lack of standardization of materials and substrate designs used in studies has significantly limited conducting such studies, increasing the cost and time. In this study, we introduce a method to control the direction and migration of by drawing hydrophobic lines and patterns. Our study succeeded in controlling the movement of by setting a variety of hydrophobic designs such as complete barrier, single-slit barrier, taper barrier, dumbbell barrier, and one-side-opened rectangular barrier, suggesting the effectiveness of the hydrophobic barrier in regulating the propulsion and navigation of the organisms. Moreover, we demonstrated that utilizing such geometric constraints can reduce the experimental time required for toxicity testing based on by more than 300%. Our techniques open new possibilities for studying the biophysical properties and behaviors of , while also facilitating toxicity testing.
（）是一种具有独特特性的单细胞原生生物，例如在没有大脑或中枢神经系统的培养环境中具有学习和记忆能力。该生物体已广泛应用于形态学、趋性和正反馈动力学研究。然而，研究中使用的材料和底物设计缺乏标准化，这显著限制了此类研究的开展，增加了成本和时间。在本研究中，我们介绍了一种通过绘制疏水线和图案来控制（）的方向和迁移的方法。我们的研究通过设置各种疏水设计，如完全屏障、单缝屏障、锥形屏障、哑铃形屏障和单侧开口矩形屏障，成功地控制了（）的运动，表明疏水屏障在调节生物体的推进和导航方面的有效性。此外，我们证明利用这种几何约束可以将基于（）的毒性测试所需的实验时间减少300%以上。我们的技术为研究（）的生物物理特性和行为开辟了新的可能性，同时也促进了毒性测试。
