Gold Nanowires Deliver Payload to Single Cells

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have developed a technique to precisely deliver biochemical payloads to individual cells or even to a specific location within the cell. They use electrical fields to guide and place gold nanowires, on predetermined spots on a single cell. Molecules coating on the nanowires triggered a biochemical cascade in the affected cell, without affecting nearby cells. They compare it to dropping a toothpick on the head of one particular person standing among 100,000 people in a stadium. The technique could be used to deliver drugs to diseased cells while sparing surrounding tissue. The researchers have already demonstrated that it can be used it to deliver TNF-alpha to cultured cervical cancer cells in a dish. The researchers mainly foresee the technique used in basic research in the foreseeable future, with clinical applications further down the road. The findings were published in Nature Nanotechnology.
Image: Arrow points to nanowire placed on cell surface. (Levchenko/Chien labs)
Press release: Pinpoint Precision: Nanowires Deliver Biochemical Payloads to One Cell Among Many…
Article abstract: Subcellular-resolution delivery of a cytokine through precisely manipulated nanowires…