title: Optical reprogramming of human somatic cells using ultrashort Bessel-shaped near-infrared femtosecond laser pulses.
abstract: We report a virus-free optical approach to human cell reprogramming into induced pluripotent stem cells with low-power nanoporation using ultrashort Bessel-shaped laser pulses. Picojoule near-infrared sub-20 fs laser pulses at a high 85 MHz repetition frequency are employed to generate transient nanopores in the membrane of dermal fibroblasts for the introduction of four transcription factors to induce the reprogramming process. In contrast to conventional approaches which utilize retro- or lentiviruses to deliver genes or transcription factors into the host genome, the laser method is virus-free; hence, the risk of virus-induced cancer generation limiting clinical application is avoided.
authors.affiliation: Saarland University, Department of Biophotonics and Laser Technology, Campus A5.1, 66123 Saarbrücken, GermanybJenLab GmbH, Schillerstrasse 1, 07745 Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Aisada
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Uchugonova
authors.affiliation: Saarland University, Department of Biophotonics and Laser Technology, Campus A5.1, 66123 Saarbrücken, GermanybJenLab GmbH, Schillerstrasse 1, 07745 Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Hans Georg
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Breunig
authors.affiliation: Saarland University, Department of Biophotonics and Laser Technology, Campus A5.1, 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Batista
authors.affiliation: Saarland University, Department of Biophotonics and Laser Technology, Campus A5.1, 66123 Saarbrücken, GermanybJenLab GmbH, Schillerstrasse 1, 07745 Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Karsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: König
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D000067470:Cellular Reprogramming Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D006801:Humans; D057026:Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology*; D007259:Infrared Rays; D007834:Lasers; D051379:Mice; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000295:instrumentation*; D014162:Transfection / Q000295:instrumentation*