Nanolocalized Single-Cell-Membrane Nanoelectroporation: For higher efficiency with high cell viability.

This article presents a nanolocalized single-cell nanoelectroporation technique, where electroporation takes place in a very precise and localized area on a single cell membrane to achieve highly efficient delivery with high cell viability. A 40-nm triangular indium tin oxide (ITO)-based nanoelectrode tip with a 60-nm gap between two nanoelectrodes, which can intense an electric field in a nanolocalized area of a single cell to permeabilize exogenous biomolecules from outside to inside of the cell, is fabricated. This device successfully delivers dyes and proteins into a single cell with high cell viability (98%). The process not only controls the precise delivery mechanism into the single cell with membrane reversibility but also provides spatial, temporal, and qualitative dosage control, which might be beneficial for therapeutic and biological cell studies.