High Throughput Poration of Mammalian Cells using Femtosecond Laser-activated Plasmonic Substrates

Presentation Date: 

Thursday, January 29, 2015

Location: 

Tokyo Metropolitan University (Tokyo, Japan)

Presentation Slides: 

We present a new cell transfection method that uses femtosecond laser-excited localized surface plasmons (LSPs) on a nanostructured micropyramid array. Our gold-layered micropyramids have nano-apertures at the apex to form high local electric field enhancements, or “hot spots.” These hot spots form microbubbles that temporarily perforate mammalian cell (HeLa S3) membranes and allow dye molecules and plasmid vectors to diffuse through the membrane openings. We optimize our laser parameters for successful poration and high cell viability. Our nontoxic, efficient, and scalable technique offers an innovative approach to the advancement of regenerative medicine and the study of LSP-cell interaction.