Cargo Delivery to Cells Using Laser-Irradiated Carbon-Black-Loaded PDMS

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel laser-irradiated carbon-black-loaded PDMS method for precise, scalable, and non-destructive intracellular delivery of cargo molecules, including siRNA, into various cell types with high efficiency and viability.

Contribution

It introduces a carrier-free, optical approach using carbon-black-embedded PDMS for spatially selective intracellular delivery, advancing gene editing techniques.

Findings

Achieved 45% siRNA delivery efficiency into K562 cells.

Maintained nearly 100% cell viability during delivery.

Enabled sequential delivery of multiple cargo molecules.

Abstract

Effective intracellular delivery is essential for successful gene editing of cells. Spatially selective delivery to cells that is simultaneously precise, consistent, and non-destructive remains challenging using conventional state-of-the-art techniques. Here, we introduce a carrier-free method for spatiotemporal delivery of fluorescently labeled cargo into both adherent and suspension cells using carbon-black-embedded polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrates irradiated by nanosecond laser pulses. This low-cost, biocompatible material, coupled with an optical approach, enables scalable, spatially selective, and sequential delivery of multiple cargo molecules, including FITC-dextran and siRNA, to a broad range of cells. Notably, we achieved siRNA delivery into the cytoplasm of hard-to-transfect K562 cells with 45% efficiency, while maintaining nearly 100% cell viability.