# An Opto‐Bio‐Hydrodynamic Platform for Instructing Cardiac Left‐Right Asymmetry Development

## TL;DR

A new platform uses light to control ciliary motion and guide heart asymmetry development, offering potential for treating congenital heart defects.

## Contribution

A non-invasive, light-based platform for spatiotemporally controlling ciliary motion during cardiac development is introduced.

## Key findings

- Optical trapping with 1064-nm light modulates motile cilia motion in real time.
- Optically regulated ciliary synchronization enhances recirculating flow and rescues cardiogenesis abnormalities.
- The platform links ciliary dynamics, flow-mediated signaling, and organ asymmetry development.

## Abstract

The spatiotemporal regulation of ciliary dynamics within the left‐right organizer (LRO) governs cardiac laterality establishment through biomechanical signaling gradients. While targeted restoration of aberrant ciliary motion can theoretically rescue left‐right patterning defects, existing manipulation strategies lack the non‐invasiveness, micron‐scale precision, and spatiotemporal programmability required for developmental interventions. Here, a multifunctional Opto‐Bio‐Hydrodynamic platform is presented to modulate ciliary motion with the programmable near‐infrared light for instructing cardiac left‐right asymmetry development in a spatiotemporally controlled manner. By the real‐time modulation of a 1064‐nm light beam, a direct optical trapping is demonstrated for the motile cilia, while uniform synchronization of ciliary beating is achieved through indirect optical regulation. Consequently, a coordinated ciliary rotational pattern triggers an enhanced recirculating flow, under which the methylcellulose‐induced cardiogenesis abnormality is rescued in a fully controlled manner. By establishing mechanistic links among optically tuned ciliary dynamics, flow‐mediated signaling, and organ asymmetry, this proposed strategy provides valuable insights into congenital heart defects and offers a promising biomedical platform for developmental bioengineering and mechanobiological therapeutics.

By establishing mechanistic links among optically tuned ciliary dynamics, flow‐mediated signaling, and organ asymmetry, a multifunctional Opto‐Bio‐Hydrodynamic platform is developed to modulate ciliary motion with the programmable near infrared light for instructing cardiac left‐right asymmetry development in a spatiotemporally controlled manner, which provides an innovative tool to uncover universal principles underlying organ asymmetry development and enables an early intervention in congenital heart diseases, visceral heterotaxy, and related disorders.