| Project ID |
BPN650 |
| Website |
|
| Start Date |
Thu 2011-Aug-18 12:06:00 |
| Last Updated |
Wed 2012-Feb-01 13:06:30 |
| Abstract |
In the recent breakthrough of stem cell researches, somatic cells can be reprogrammed to pluripotent
states or be converted to other cell lineages by delivery of transcription factors, RNA or small
molecules. The first challenge to overcome is to deliver molecules cross cell membrane. Several
delivery methods, such as viral infections, lipid-mediated transfections and electroporations, are
widely applied due to their robustness and large-scale operation. However, the spatial and temporal
controls are hard to achieve due to stochastic nature of bulk processes. Here we developed a method,
called nano-plasmonic poration, which allows large scale light-patterned molecular delivery at
single-cell level resolution. Plasmonic gold nanorods (GNRs) have high efficiency of light
harvesting and photothermal conversion, which makes them an ideal vector for melting cell membranes
locally. The energy required to generate nanopores is extremely low, and therefore can be provided
by a low magnification air objective with large field of excitation. Nanopores have long lifetime
and exhibit two distributions in their diameter. Time dependent multi-molecules delivery and RNA
induced gene silencing are demonstrated. By simply extending the expose area, light-patterned
delivery can be scaled up to tissue-level. The flexible light-patterning, together with the
capability of in situ and multi-delivery, makes nanoplasmonic poration a promising approach for
studying cellular interactions during nuclear programming. |
| Status |
Continuing |
| Funding Source |
Other |
| IAB Research Area |
Microfluidics |
| Researcher(s) |
Chi-cheng Fu, Sahba Talebi Fard, Kyuwan Lee, SoonGweon Hong |
| Advisor(s) |
Luke P. Lee |
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