He Ye, Jin Ke, Pan Bo, Li Ke, Mai John D H, Xu Xianchen, Chen Ying, Ma Zhiteng, Yang Kaichun, Yang Shujie, Shambaugh Kilian, Liu Mingyuan, Xia Jianping, Wu Yuqi, Lee Luke P, Huang Tony Jun
The Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA.
Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
Sci Adv. 2025 Aug 15;11(33):eadx3851. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adx3851. Epub 2025 Aug 13.
Mechanoimmunology explores how mechanical forces orchestrate immune responses, offering insights into immune cell functions and the mechanisms underlying mechanotransduction. A critical challenge in this field is the absence of reliable platforms that apply precise, consistent mechanical stimuli to individual cells while enabling reproducible immune activation. Here, we present a nanoscale acoustic oscillator for mechanoimmunology applications: NAOMI. NAOMI features micropatterned pillars that support uniform cell monolayer formation with an integrated acoustic transducer that delivers highly controlled 3D nanoscale oscillations (±1-nanometer deviation) for up to 72 hours. Unlike conventional passive platforms relying on static stiffness or surface topography, NAOMI enables dynamic, programmable stimulation with high precision and reproducibility. Validation studies demonstrate that NAOMI notably enhances mechanical stress intensity and cell displacement, driving robust M1 polarization in macrophages. NAOMI provides a practical and versatile platform for studying mechanoimmunology, offering high precision, stability, and tunability. Its capabilities also position it well to support future research and drive innovative discoveries in the field.
机械免疫学探索机械力如何协调免疫反应，为免疫细胞功能及机械转导的潜在机制提供见解。该领域的一个关键挑战是缺乏可靠的平台，这些平台能够对单个细胞施加精确、一致的机械刺激，同时实现可重复的免疫激活。在此，我们展示了一种用于机械免疫学应用的纳米级声学振荡器：NAOMI。NAOMI具有微图案化的支柱，可支持均匀的细胞单层形成，并集成了一个声学换能器，该换能器可提供高度可控的3D纳米级振荡（偏差±1纳米），持续长达72小时。与依赖静态刚度或表面形貌的传统被动平台不同，NAOMI能够实现动态、可编程的刺激，具有高精度和可重复性。验证研究表明，NAOMI显著提高了机械应力强度和细胞位移，驱动巨噬细胞中强大的M1极化。NAOMI为研究机械免疫学提供了一个实用且通用的平台，具有高精度、稳定性和可调性。其功能也使其能够很好地支持未来的研究，并推动该领域的创新发现。
