Repeated photoporation with graphene quantum dots enables homogeneous labeling of live cells with extrinsic markers for fluorescence microscopy.

ABSTRACT: In the replacement of genetic probes, there is increasing interest in labeling living cells with high-quality extrinsic labels, which avoid over-expression artifacts and are available in a wide spectral range. This calls for a broadly applicable technology that can deliver such labels unambiguously to the cytosol of living cells. Here, we demonstrate that nanoparticle-sensitized photoporation can be used to this end as an emerging intracellular delivery technique. We replace the traditionally used gold nanoparticles with graphene nanoparticles as photothermal sensitizers to permeabilize the cell membrane upon laser irradiation. We demonstrate that the enhanced thermal stability of graphene quantum dots allows the formation of multiple vapor nanobubbles upon irradiation with short laser pul

SUBMITTER: Liu J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6106998 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature