title: Selective photonic disinfection of cell culture using a visible ultrashort pulsed laser.
abstract: Microbial contamination of cell culture is a major problem encountered both in academic labs and in the biotechnology/pharmaceutical industries. A broad spectrum of microbes including mycoplasma, bacteria, fungi, and viruses are the causative agents of cell culture contamination. Unfortunately, the existing disinfection techniques lack selectivity and/or lead to the development of drug-resistance, and more importantly there is no universal method to address all microbes. Here, we report a novel, chemical-free visible ultrashort pulsed laser method for cell culture disinfection. The ultrashort pulsed laser technology inactivates pathogens with mechanical means, a paradigm shift from the traditional pharmaceutical and chemical approaches. We demonstrate that ultrashort pulsed laser treatment can efficiently inactivate mycoplasma, bacteria, yeast, and viruses with good preservation of mammalian cell viability. Our results indicate that this ultrashort pulsed laser technology has the potential to serve as a universal method for the disinfection of cell culture.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO 63110.
authors.forename: Shaw-Wei D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Tsen
authors.affiliation: Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287.
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kibler
authors.affiliation: Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287.
authors.forename: Bert
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Jacobs
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO 63110.
authors.forename: Justin C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Fay
authors.affiliation: ASU/Mayo Center for Metabolic and Vascular Biology, Arizona State University Tempe, AZ 85287.
authors.forename: N P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Podolnikova
authors.affiliation: ASU/Mayo Center for Metabolic and Vascular Biology, Arizona State University Tempe, AZ 85287.
authors.forename: T P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Ugarova
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO 63110.
authors.forename: Samuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Achilefu
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Center for Biophysics, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-1504.
authors.forename: Kong-Thon
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Tsen
keywords: Photonic disinfection; cell cultures; pathogens; ultrashort pulsed laser