Article

Biofunctionalized nanoneedles for the direct and site-selective delivery of probes into living cells.

Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (impact factor: 4.66). 03/2011; 1810(3):330-8. DOI:10.1016/j.bbagen.2010.05.005
Source: PubMed

ABSTRACT Accessing the interior of live cells with minimal intrusiveness for visualizing, probing, and interrogating biological processes has been the ultimate goal of much of the biological experimental development.
The recent development and use of the biofunctionalized nanoneedles for local and spatially controlled intracellular delivery brings in exciting new opportunities in accessing the interior of living cells. Here we review the technical aspect of this relatively new intracellular delivery method and the related demonstrations and studies and provide our perspectives on the potential wide applications of this new nanotechnology-based tool in the biological field, especially on its use for high-resolution studies of biological processes in living cells.
Different from the traditional micropipette-based needles for intracellular injection, a nanoneedle deploys a sub-100-nm-diameter solid nanowire as a needle to penetrate a cell membrane and to transfer and deliver the biological cargo conjugated onto its surface to the target regions inside a cell. Although the traditional micropipette-based needles can be more efficient in delivery biological cargoes, a nanoneedle-based delivery system offers an efficient introduction of biomolecules into living cells with high spatiotemporal resolution but minimal intrusion and damage. It offers a potential solution to quantitatively address biological processes at the nanoscale.
The nanoneedle-based cell delivery system provides new possibilities for efficient, specific, and precise introduction of biomolecules into living cells for high-resolution studies of biological processes, and it has potential application in addressing broad biological questions. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled Nanotechnologies - Emerging Applications in Biomedicine.

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Keywords

biological experimental development
 
broad biological questions
 
delivery biological cargoes
 
Emerging Applications
 
exciting new opportunities
 
high-resolution studies
 
intracellular delivery
 
intracellular injection
 
nanoneedle-based cell delivery system
 
nanoneedle-based delivery system
 
new intracellular delivery method
 
new nanotechnology-based tool
 
new possibilities
 
potential wide applications
 
quantitatively address biological processes
 
recent development
 
spatiotemporal resolution
 
Special Issue
 
sub-100-nm-diameter solid nanowire
 
traditional micropipette-based needles
 

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