title: Nanochannel electroporation delivers precise amounts of biomolecules into living cells.
abstract: Many transfection techniques can deliver biomolecules into cells, but the dose cannot be controlled precisely. Delivering well-defined amounts of materials into cells is important for various biological studies and therapeutic applications. Here, we show that nanochannel electroporation can deliver precise amounts of a variety of transfection agents into living cells. The device consists of two microchannels connected by a nanochannel. The cell to be transfected is positioned in one microchannel using optical tweezers, and the transfection agent is located in the second microchannel. Delivering a voltage pulse between the microchannels produces an intense electric field over a very small area on the cell membrane, allowing a precise amount of transfection agent to be electrophoretically driven through the nanochannel, the cell membrane and into the cell cytoplasm, without affecting cell viability. Dose control is achieved by adjusting the duration and number of pulses. The nanochannel electroporation device is expected to have high-throughput delivery applications.
authors: Center for Affordable Nanoengineering of Polymeric Biomedical Devices, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA.
authors: Pouyan E
authors: PE
authors: Boukany
authors: Andrew
authors: A
authors: Morss
authors: Wei-Ching
authors: WC
authors: Liao
authors: Brian
authors: B
authors: Henslee
authors: Hyunchul
authors: H
authors: Jung
authors: Xulang
authors: X
authors: Zhang
authors: Bo
authors: B
authors: Yu
authors: Xinmei
authors: X
authors: Wang
authors: Yun
authors: Y
authors: Wu
authors: Lei
authors: L
authors: Li
authors: Keliang
authors: K
authors: Gao
authors: Xin
authors: X
authors: Hu
authors: Xi
authors: X
authors: Zhao
authors: O
authors: O
authors: Hemminger
authors: Wu
authors: W
authors: Lu
authors: Gregory P
authors: GP
authors: Lafyatis
authors: L James
authors: LJ
authors: Lee
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002463:Cell Membrane Permeability / Q000502:physiology; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000502:physiology; D003198:Computer Simulation; D018274:Electroporation / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D019169:Jurkat Cells; D051379:Mice; D044085:Microfluidics / Q000379:methods; D008954:Models, Biological; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D014162:Transfection / Q000379:methods*