Optical gene transfer by femtosecond laser pulses

Karsten Konig; Iris Riemann; Uday K. Tirlapur

doi:10.1117/12.478020

10 July 2003 Optical gene transfer by femtosecond laser pulses

Karsten Konig, Iris Riemann, Uday K. Tirlapur

Proceedings Volume 4963, Multiphoton Microscopy in the Biomedical Sciences III; (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.478020
Event: Biomedical Optics, 2003, San Jose, CA, United States

Abstract

Targeted transfection of cells is an important technique for gene therapy and related biomedical applications. We delineate how high-intensity (10¹² W/cm²) near-infrared (NIR) 80 MHz nanojoule femtosecond laser pulses can create highly localised membrane perforations within a minute focal volume, enabling non-invasive direct transfection of mammalian cells with DNA. We suspended Chinese hamster ovarian (CHO), rat kangaroo kidney epithelial (PtK2) and rat fibroblast cells in 0.5 ml culture medium in a sterile miniaturized cell chamber (JenLab GmbH, Jena, Germany) containing 0.2 μg plasmid DNA vector pEGFP-N1 (4.7 kb), which codes for green fluorescent protein (GFP). The NIR laser beam was introduced into a femtosecond laser scanning microscope (JenLab GmbH, Jena, Germany) and focussed on the edge of the cell membrane of a target cell for 16 ms. The integration and expression efficiency of EGFP were assessed in situ by two-photon fluorescence-lifetime imaging using time-correlated single photon counting. The unique capability to transfer foreign DNA safely and efficiently into specific cell types (including stem cells), circumventing mechanical, electrical or chemical means, will have many applications, such as targeted gene therapy and DNA vaccination.

Citation Download Citation

Karsten Konig, Iris Riemann, and Uday K. Tirlapur "Optical gene transfer by femtosecond laser pulses", Proc. SPIE 4963, Multiphoton Microscopy in the Biomedical Sciences III, (10 July 2003); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.478020

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