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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2013 Jul 7.
Published in final edited form as: Analyst. 2012 May 29;137(13):3020–3027. doi: 10.1039/c2an35571j

FIGURE 4. Using a nanopore to transfect a breast cancer cell via electroporation.

FIGURE 4

(a) Optical micrograph showing an MDA-MB-231 cell held by optical tweezers over a 3.4-nm-diameter pore in a 30-nm-thick silicon nitride membrane, 35 μm on edge. The nitride membrane is the light gray square, transparent compared to the silicon handle wafer around it. (b,c) Confocal (x-z) cuts showing the translocation of 20 kbp YOYO intercalated dsDNA and the subsequent transfection of a 231 cell positioned over the 3.4 nm pore. As time progresses from t=3 to 16 min. more DNA enters the cell and the fluorescence increases, eventually showing the outline of the cell. (d) False-color perspective iso-surfaces reconstructed from volumetric data obtained from confocal images of the same cell as (a,b). At this late time (t=18 min), the fluorescent DNA appears to concentrate in the nucleus. Scattering from the membrane as well as fluorescent DNA in the pore are both indicated.