Efficient intracellular delivery of target macromolecules remains a major obstacle in cell engineering and other biomedical applications. We discovered a unique cell biophysical phenomenon of transient cell volume exchange by using microfluidics to rapidly and repeatedly compress cells. This behavior consists of brief, mechanically induced cell volume loss followed by rapid volume recovery. We harness this behavior for high-throughput, convective intracellular delivery of large polysaccharides (2000 kDa), particles (100 nm), and plasmids while maintaining high cell viability. Successful proof of concept experiments in transfection and intracellular labeling demonstrated potential to overcome the most prohibitive challenges in intracellular delivery for cell engineering.

中文翻译：

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瞬时细胞体积交换的微流体生成，用于对流驱动的大分子的细胞内递送

目标大分子的有效细胞内递送仍然是细胞工程和其他生物医学应用中的主要障碍。我们通过使用微流体快速、重复地压缩细胞，发现了一种独特的细胞生物物理现象：瞬时细胞体积交换。这种行为包括短暂的、机械诱导的细胞体积损失，随后体积快速恢复。我们利用这种行为进行大多糖 (2000 kDa)、颗粒 (100 nm) 和质粒的高通量、对流细胞内递送，同时保持高细胞活力。转染和细胞内标记的概念实验的成功证明了克服细胞工程细胞内递送中最令人望而却步的挑战的潜力。