Precisely regulate ERK signaling pathway with local electric fields

Our main research interest is to understand how artificial electronics can interact with biological systems. Live cells rely on a big network of signaling pathways that sense and respond to biochemical, electrical and mechanical (BEM) stimuli. We want to explore if we can modulate this BEM network, particularly with external electric field, and investigate the mechanism at the molecular level.
In this presentation I will talk about our recent discovery of modulation of extracellular-signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway using alternative current (AC) electric fields (EFs). The amplitude, duration, and frequency of activation of the ERK pathway code diverse spectrum of information at cell, tissue and organism levels to instruct cells to migrate, proliferate, or differentiate. Synchronized control of ERK activation would provide a powerful approach to regulate cell behaviors. Here we show for the first time that AC EFs in a new frequency range can reproducibly activate ERK activities through patterned local microelectrodes with single-cell resolution. Both the amplitude and frequency of ERK activation can be precisely synchronized and modulated. We pinpointed a new mechanism of AC EF induced highly specific phosphorylation of epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor (EGFR) to activate the EGFR-ERK pathway, which may serve as a powerful platform for control of cell behaviors with implications in wide range of biomedical applications.