Laser plasma jet driven microparticles for DNA/drug delivery

PLoS One. 2012;7(11):e50823. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0050823. Epub 2012 Nov 30.

Abstract

This paper describes a microparticle delivery device that generates a plasma jet through laser ablation of a thin metal foil and uses the jet to accomplish particle delivery into soft living targets for transferring biological agents. Pure gold microparticles of 1 µm size were coated with a plasmid DNA, pIG121Hm, and were deposited as a thin layer on one surface of an aluminum foil. The laser (Nd:YAG, 1064 nm wavelength) ablation of the foil generated a plasma jet that carried the DNA coated particles into the living onion cells. The particles could effectively penetrate the target cells and disseminate the DNA, effecting the transfection of the cells. Generation of the plasma jet on laser ablation of the foil and its role as a carrier of microparticles was visualized using a high-speed video camera, Shimadzu HPV-1, at a frame rate of 500 kfps (2 µs interframe interval) in a shadowgraph optical set-up. The particle speed could be measured from the visualized images, which was about 770 m/s initially, increased to a magnitude of 1320 m/s, and after a quasi-steady state over a distance of 10 mm with an average magnitude of 1100 m/s, started declining, which typically is the trend of a high-speed, pulsed, compressible jet. Aluminum launch pad (for the particles) was used in the present study to make the procedure cost-effective, whereas the guided, biocompatible launch pads made of gold, silver or titanium can be used in the device during the actual clinical operations. The particle delivery device has a potential to have a miniature form and can be an effective, hand-held drug/DNA delivery device for biological applications.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Biolistics
  • DNA / metabolism*
  • Drug Delivery Systems / instrumentation
  • Drug Delivery Systems / methods*
  • Glucuronidase / metabolism
  • Laser Therapy
  • Lasers*
  • Microspheres*
  • Onions / cytology
  • Particle Accelerators
  • Plasma Gases / chemistry*

Substances

  • Plasma Gases
  • DNA
  • Glucuronidase

Grants and funding

This work was supported in part by Global COE program (Global Initiative Center for Pulsed Power Engineering) and Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan (24540539). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.