Manipulation of cell membrane using carbon nanotube scaffold as a photoresponsive stimuli generator

Takao Sada; Tsuyohiko Fujigaya; Naotoshi Nakashima

doi:10.1088/1468-6996/15/4/045002

Manipulation of cell membrane using carbon nanotube scaffold as a photoresponsive stimuli generator

Sci Technol Adv Mater. 2014 Jul 7;15(4):045002. doi: 10.1088/1468-6996/15/4/045002. eCollection 2014 Aug.

Authors

Takao Sada¹, Tsuyohiko Fujigaya², Naotoshi Nakashima³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Applied Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyushu University, 744 Motooka Nishi-ku, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan.
² Department of Applied Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyushu University, 744 Motooka Nishi-ku, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan; International Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research (WPI-I2CNER), Kyushu University, Japan.
³ Department of Applied Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyushu University, 744 Motooka Nishi-ku, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan; International Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research (WPI-I2CNER), Kyushu University, Japan; Core Research for Evolutionary Science and Technology (JST-CREST), 5 Sanbancho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 102-0075, Japan.

Abstract

We describe, for the first time, the perforation of the cell membrane in the targeted single cell based on the nanosecond pulsed near-infrared (NIR) laser irradiation of a thin film of carbon nanotubes that act as an effective photon absorber as well as stimuli generator. When the power of NIR laser is over 17.5 μJ/pulse, the cell membrane after irradiation is irreversibly disrupted and results in cell death. In sharp contrast, the perforation of the cell membrane occurs at suitable laser power (∼15 μJ/pulse) without involving cell termination.

Keywords: carbon nanotubes; cell perforation; cell scaffold; nanosecond pulse laser; near-IR laser.