Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia , Via Morego 30 , 16163 Genova , Italy.
DIBRIS , University of Genoa , Via all'Opera Pia 13 , 16145 Genova , Italy.
Nano Lett. 2019 Feb 13;19(2):722-731. doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.8b03764. Epub 2019 Jan 23.
Delivery of molecules into intracellular compartments is one of the fundamental requirements in molecular biology. However, the possibility of delivering a precise number of nano-objects with single-particle resolution is still an open challenge. Here we present an electrophoretic platform based on 3D hollow nanoelectrodes to enable delivery of single nanoparticles into single selected cells and monitoring of the single-particle delivery by surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). The gold-coated hollow nanoelectrode capable of confinement and enhancement of electromagnetic fields upon laser illumination can distinguish the SERS signals of a single nanoparticle flowing through the nanoelectrode. Tight wrapping of cell membranes around the nanoelectrodes allows effective membrane electroporation such that single gold nanorods are delivered on demand into a living cell by electrophoresis. The capability of the 3D hollow nanoelectrodes to porate cells and reveal single emitters from the background in continuous flow is promising for the analysis of both intracellular delivery and sampling.
将分子递送到细胞内隔室是分子生物学的基本要求之一。然而，能够以单粒子分辨率递送精确数量的纳米物体仍然是一个开放的挑战。在这里，我们展示了一种基于 3D 中空纳米电极的电泳平台，能够将单个纳米颗粒递送到单个选定的细胞中，并通过表面增强拉曼散射 (SERS) 监测单颗粒的递送。这种金涂覆的中空纳米电极能够在激光照射下限制和增强电磁场，从而能够区分流过纳米电极的单个纳米颗粒的 SERS 信号。细胞膜紧紧包裹在纳米电极周围，使得细胞膜的有效电穿孔能够按需通过电泳将单个金纳米棒递送到活细胞中。3D 中空纳米电极在连续流动中穿孔细胞并从背景中揭示单个发射器的能力，有望用于分析细胞内递送和采样。
