Making Light Deliver: translation of methods of photoporation

细胞膜是所有细胞的外缘。在哺乳动物中，这是一层薄薄的双层脂质膜，在散布的位置嵌入了各种蛋白质分子。膜包裹着细胞，定义着它的边界，维持着细胞质和细胞外环境之间的基本物理化学差异。在正常情况下，细胞膜的脂质性质对大多数水溶性分子的通过起着不可渗透的屏障作用。因此，选择性地将治疗剂引入功能失调或病变细胞内部仍然是一个关键的挑战。圣安德鲁斯-邓迪团队最初的基础技术资助旨在发展两个相互关联的研究方向，使靶向药物能够随意输送到细胞和组织中。这些研究已经产生了优秀的研究和论文，而使用紧密聚焦的激光束来创造微小的瞬态孔隙，从而允许治疗剂进入的方法是最有前途的。这种技术，称为光穿孔，提供了一个强大的方法单细胞靶向转染无菌的方式。在接下来的提案中，我们的目标是将我们的成果和开发的技术转化为将在大学和工业中普遍存在的设备。这是因为这些光学设备将能够将生物学上重要的材料，从基因到原型药物，输送到许多不同的生物系统中，如干细胞研究、植物细胞、农业到体内哺乳动物组织。

The cell membrane represents the outer extremity of all cells. In mammals, this is a thin bi-layer film of lipids, embedded with various protein molecules at interspersed locations. The membrane encloses the cell, defines its boundaries and maintains the essential physico-chemical differences between the cytoplasm and the extracellular environment. Under normal circumstances, the lipid nature of the cell membrane acts as an impermeable barrier to the passage of most water-soluble molecules. Thus, the selective introduction of therapeutic agents to the inside of dysfunctional or diseased cells remains a key challenge. The St Andrews-Dundee team's original Basic Technology grant was aimed at developing two inter-related strands of research that would enable targeted drug delivery to cells and tissue at will. The studies have resulted in excellent research and papers and the methods of using tightly focused laser beams to create minute transient pores that permit therapeutic agents to be introduced has been the most promising. This technique, termed photoporation, offers a powerful method for single cell targeted transfection in a sterile fashion. In this next proposal we aim to translate our results and the developed technology into devices that will be common place in both universities and industry. This will be because these optical devices will be able to deliver biologically important material, ranging from genes through to prototype drugs, into a host of different biological systems such as its involvement in stem cell research, plant cells, agriculture through to in vivo mammalian tissue.