The ability to load membrane impermeable substances into cells is of great interest to cell biologists.  Optical transfection is one of the few technologies that allows single cells to easily be transfected, without affecting neighbouring cells.  The image shows six cells, three of which were transfected with a plasmid encoding for green fluorescent protein (green & blue cells), and three of which that were not.  Cells are co-stained with the blue nuclear dye, DAPI, so only the nuclei of untransfected cells are visible.   Early transfection work employed a Ti:Sapphire femtosecond pulsed laser using a standard Gaussian beam profile.  More recent work has employed the use of a Bessel Beam profile, obviating the need for exact focussing and opening the possibility of a “point-and-shoot” device for the biological community.  Current work is ongoing to apply this technology to an axicon tipped fibre, thereby freeing the operator from bulky objectives. 

Key References

(If desired, all references and pdfs may be downloaded en masse in an Endnote formatted zip file)

Photo-transfection of mammalian cells using femtosecond laser pulses: optimisation and applicability to stem cell differentiation Patience Mthunzi, Kishan Dholakia, Frank Gunn-Moore, accepted for publication in the July/August issue of Journal of Biomedical Optics (Vol. 15, No. 2).

Transient transfection of mammalian cells using a violet diode laser Maria Leilani Torres-Mapa, Liselotte Veldhuis, Martin Ploschner, Kishan Dholakia, Frank Gunn-Moore Accepted for publication in the July/August 2010 issue of the Journal of Biomedical Optics (Vol. 15, No. 02).

Transfection by optical injection David J. Stevenson, Frank J. Gunn-Moore, Paul Campbell, Kishan Dholakia, Chapter 3 in The Handbook of Photonics for Medical Science Ed. by Tuchin V.V. London, CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, 2010. pp.87-117. (request reprint)

Single cell optical transfection David J. Stevenson, Frank J. Gunn-Moore, Paul Campbell, Kishan Dholakia. Published online ahead of print in The Journal of the Royal Society Interface.

Targeted optical injection of gold nanoparticles into single mammalian cells, C McDougall, D.J. Stevenson, C.T.A. Brown, F. Gunn-Moore, & K. Dholakia. Journal of Biophotonics 2(12) 736–743 (2009) (pdf) (video 1) (video 2) (press highlight: arstechnica.com)

Fibre based cellular transfection X. Tsampoula, K. Taguchi, T. Cižmár, V. Garces-Chavez, N. Ma, S. Mohanty, K. Mohanty, F. Gunn-Moore, and K. Dholakia, Optics Express, 16, 21, 17007-17013 (2008) (pdf)

Enhanced Operation of Femtosecond Lasers and Applications In Cell Transfection
C.T.A. Brown, D.J. Stevenson, X. Tsampoula, C. McDougall, A. Lagatsky, W. Sibbett, F.J. Gunn-Moore and K. Dholakia, Journal of Biophotonics 1(3), 183 - 199 (2008) (pdf) (wmv) (wmv)

Femtosecond cellular transfection using a non-diffracting light beam
X.Tsampoula, V. Garcés-Chávez, M. Comrie, D. Stevenson, M.B. Agate, F.J. Gunn-Moore, C.T.A. Brown and K Dholakia, Appl Phys Lett 91, 053902 (2007). Reprint in Virtual Journal of Biological Physics Research (pdf)

Femtosecond optical transfection of cells: viability and efficiency
D. Stevenson, B. Agate, X. Tsampoula, P. Fischer, C. T. A. Brown, W. Sibbett A. Riches, F. Gunn- Moore, K. Dholakia Opt. Express 14, 7125-7133 (2006) (pdf)

Photoporation and cell transfection using a violet diode laser (Press release)
L. Paterson, B. Agate, M. Comrie, R. Ferguson, T. K. Lake, J. E. Morris, A. E. Carruthers, C. T. A. Brown, W. Sibbett, P. E. Bryant, F. Gunn-Moore,A. C. Riches, K. Dholakia, Opt. Express 13, 595-600 (2005) (pdf)

We attempt to maintain, to the best of our ability, the wiki entry on optical transfection.