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Formation of cell chains is a straightforward and efficient method to study the cell interaction. By regulating the contact sequence and interaction distance, the influence of different extracellular cues on the cell interaction can be investigated. However, it faces great challenges in stable retaining and precise regulation of cell chain, especially in cell culture with relatively low cell concentration. Here we demonstrated an optical method to realize the precise regulation of cell chain, including removing or adding a single cell, adjusting interaction distance, and changing cell contact sequence. After injecting a 980-nm wavelength laser beam into a tapered optical fiber probe (FP), a cell chain of Escherichia colis (E. colis) is formed under the optical gradient force. By manipulating another FP close to the cell chain, a targeted E. coli cell can be trapped by the FP and removed from the chain. Further, the targeted cell can be added back to the chain at different positions to change the cell contact sequence. The experiments were interpreted by numerical simulations and the impact of cell sizes and shapes on this method was analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Therapid progresses in biological and biomedical applications with opticalinterfaces have motivated an ever-increasing demand for biocompatibleand disposable photonic components. Generally, these biophotonic componentsare first integrated with biocompatible materials and then interfacedwith biological samples, such as living cells, for biological use.Therefore, direct formation of biophotonic components using livingcells is greatly desired because the cells would serve simultaneouslyas samples and optical elements for signal sensing and detection.Here, we report an optical strategy for direct formation of biophotonicwaveguides (bio-WGs) with Escherichia coli. The experimentsdemonstrate that this facile optical strategy enables forming bio-WGswith different lengths and good light propagation performances whilethe propagating signal can be detected in real-time. This strategyoffers a seamless interface between optical and biological worldswith natural materials and provides a new opportunity for direct sensingand detection of biological signal and information in biocompatiblemicroenvironments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]