High-speed delivery of bulky cargo to cages
Researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles, working under the guidance of Professor Eric Pei-Yu Chiou, have developed an automated device that allows delivering nanoparticles, enzymes, antibodies, bacteria and other "bulky cargo" inside mammalian cells at a rate of up to 100,000 cells per minute. This approach is fundamentally superior to existing technologies that allow processing approximately one cell per minute.
To date, the only method of delivering large particles up to 1 micrometer in size inside the cell is the use of micropipettes – devices resembling a miniature syringe. Other intracellular delivery methods based on the use of viral vectors or chemical compounds are applicable only for small molecules whose size does not exceed a few nanometers.
The device developed by the authors, called BLAST (from the English Biophotonic Laser-Assisted Surgery Tool – a biophotonic surgical instrument with laser control), is a silicon oxide chip with holes drilled in a certain order, on the edges of which asymmetric semicircular titanium films are applied. Under each hole there is a container with a liquid containing particles intended for delivery inside.
Using a laser pulse, the researchers heat the titanium coating, which leads to instant boiling of water in the wells adjacent to the surface of the cells. This is accompanied by the formation of a bubble bursting in the immediate vicinity of the cell membrane, as a result of which a large pore is formed in it. This pore exists for about a millionth of a second, during which a liquid containing particles intended for delivery is injected into the cell under pressure. The laser beam takes no more than 10 seconds to scan the entire chip.
This technology provides scientists with unprecedented opportunities in studying the processes of disease development, obtaining images of cell contents and other areas of medical and biological research. For example, the introduction of mitochondria into cells will change their metabolism, thereby facilitating the study of diseases based on mutations of mitochondrial DNA.
Researchers will also be able to analyze the functioning of genes involved in the life cycle of intracellular pathogens to study the natural mechanisms of cellular defense against them. This will help identify new targets for drug development, as well as understand the fundamental mechanisms of interaction between the pathogen and the host cell.
Experts also note the high productivity of the new device, which allows processing up to 100,000 cells simultaneously. This means that one chip will allow you to collect enough data to obtain reliable statistical results.
Article by Yi-Chien Wu et al. Massively parallel delivery of large cargo into mammalian cells with light pulses is published in the journal Nature Methods.
Evgeniya Ryabtseva
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of the University of California:
UCLA researchers deliver large particles into cells at high speed.
15.04.2015