Cell collection: Catapulting with Near-IR Laser light

The selective detachment of the cells is achieved by the near-IR (NIR) irradiation of the cells cultured on a dish coated by single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). The shockwave generated by the NIR pulse laser irradiation of the SWNTs plays an important role in the detachment of the cell.

By increasing the laser power as well as decreasing the depth of the cultured medium, the detached cells are readily catapulted onto the substrate placed close to the medium surface.

Such a catapulting method enables the highly-selective collection of the targeted cells of interest and is a very useful tool for single cell studies. The scanning electron microscope and PCR experiments revealed that no fragmentation occurred for the catapulted cell.

The real-time PCR analysis for the catapulted single cell revealed the retention of the genetic information.

On July 6, 2011, our article iT. Sada, T. Fujigaya, Y. Niidome, K. Nakazawa, N. Nakashima, “Near-IR Laser-triggered Target Cell Collection Using a Carbon Nanotube-based Cell-cultured Substrate”, ACS Nano, 2011, 5, 4414-4421. IF=9.855 ) was introduced in Nature Nanotechnology, research highlights.

This article first appeared in the August 2011 issue of Nanotech Japan Bulletin