Targeted transfection of stem cells with sub-20 femtosecond laser pulses

Multiphoton microscopes have become important tools for non-contact sub-wavelength three-dimensional nanoprocessing of living biological specimens based on multiphoton ionization and plasma formation. Ultrashort laser pulses are required, however, dispersive effects limit the shortest pulse duration achievable at the focal plane. We report on a compact nonlinear laser scanning microscope with sub-20 femtosecond 75 MHz near infrared laser pulses for nanosurgery of human stem cells and two-photon high-resolution imaging. Single point illumination of the cell membrane was performed to induce a transient nanopore for the delivery of extracellular green fluorescent protein plasmids. Mean powers of less than 7 mW (< 93 pJ) and low millisecond exposure times were found to be sufficient to transfect human pancreatic and salivary gland stem cells in these preliminary studies. Ultracompact sub-20 femtosecond laser microscopes may become optical tools for nanobiotechnology and nanomedicine including optical stem cell manipulation. (C) 2008 Optical Society of America.