(294f) Nano-Electroporation (NEP) for Precise Drug/Gene Delivery

Conventional gene/drug delivery methods are based on bulk approaches where a large number of cells and drug/genes are needed (~10^5-10^6 cells and ~10^8 genes/cell) and it is impossible to control the delivered dose and location in each cell, particularly for multiple drug/gene delivery. To overcome these limitations, we recently developed a novel and yet simple nanoelectroporation (NEP) method for localized gene, drug and nanoparticle delivery to individual cells with precise control of dose, composition, and location. The delivery is achieved by the focused electric field through a nano-channel connecting two microscale channels with a single cell located at the outlet of the nano-channel in one micro-channel and gene/drug/nanoparticles located in the other micro-channel. The focused electric pulse porates the cell membrane to form a nanopore and also provides electrophoretic mobility of charged drug/gene molecules and/or nanoparticles to move into the cell. By adjusting the voltage level, pulse duration and pulse number, dose and location control of the delivery can be precisely controlled. Since poration is limited to a nanoscale size on the cell surface, our NEP is a benign process that can achieve perfect cell viability and transfection with much less gene/drug/nanoparticles than conventional delivery methods.