(526d) Nanoelectroporation and Its Comparison with Micro and Bulk Electroporation

A single cell nanoelectroporation (NEP) technology has been developed in our research group. In our NEP process, a hybrid micro/nanochannel device fabricated by a DNA combing and imprinting (DCI) technique was used to electroporate individual cells at the tip of nanochannel. Injective/convective material transport was found in the NEP to provide the capability of giving cell a shot with minimum cell damage, which is not achievable by the diffusion-dominated microelectroporation (MEP) and bulk electroporation (BEP) processes because of different delivery mechanisms. In this study, systematic comparison among NEP, MEP and BEP is investigated based on both theoretical and experimental analyses to elucidate the unique characteristics of NEP. The mechanism differences among NEP, MEP, and BEP are investigated through the delivery of PI dye and quantum dots (QD) in the experiments with electric current measurements. Numerical simulation is carried out to study the detailed electric field and material electrophoresis dynamics in each electroporation process. From the observed transport profiles and computed transmembrane potential (TMP) distributions and electrophoretic and diffusive transports, NEP is proved to be a unique single cell electroporation tool for does-controlled transfection.