Single cell photoporation in mammalian embryos induced by a femtosecond laser

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24650230
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Laboratory animal science
• Research Institution: Tokyo Institute of Technology
• Principal Investigator: TANAKA Mikiko 東京工業大学, 生命理工学研究科, 准教授 (40376950)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): HOSOKAWA Yohichiro 奈良先端科学技術大学院大学, 物質創成科学研究科, 准教授 (20448088)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: レーザー / 遺伝子

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this project, we demonstrate that the effective introduction of biomolecules into targeted single cells in mammalian embryos by photoporation using a femtosecond laser amplifier with a high pulse energy and a low repetition rate. Briefly, E9.0 mouse embryos with closed yolk sacs were cultured, and then injected ~10,000 Da biomolecules into the neural tube. Subsequently, laser pulses of 400 nJ were focused on the surface of the neural tube through a small slit made in the yolk sac. At 24 hours post-injection, biomolecules were successfully delivered to single neurons of mouse embryos. These results suggest that our single cell photoporation technique could be applied to a mammalian embryos.

Free Research Field

発生生物学