When studying intracellular activity on the molecular level, scientists end up destroying the cells to get to the contents inside. This certainly puts a damper on experiments that require keeping cells alive while monitoring what happens within them over extended time periods. Now researchers from University of Houston are reporting in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on a new method of extracting molecules from live cells without killing the cells themselves.
The technique relies on using magnets to sneak in and out magnetized carbon nanotubes that were specially coated with nickel to help penetrate cell walls. The researchers used human embryonic kidney cancer cells to ferry out green fluorescent protein (GFP) expressed by the engineered cell line. Post extraction of the protein, the cells remained viable and continued proliferating thereafter. This research now opens great new possibilities for studying cellular biology, hopefully contributing to understanding cancers and finding attack points to kill the disease.
Study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: Molecular extraction in single live cells by sneaking in and out magnetic nanomaterials…
Press release: UH Researchers Create New Method to Draw Molecules from Live Cells…