Different optical images for optically-induced electroporation of multiple gene transfection

Gene transfection plays an important role in biological researches, especially in the development of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS). In this work, an optically-induced electroporation method for gene transfection by using a microfluidic platform was presented. Electroporation can be induced by illuminating an optical image on a photoconductive layer when the top and the bottom substrates were applied with an electric field. One of the most important factors that affected efficiency of optically-induced gene transfection was the optical patterns illuminating on the chip. Therefore, a series of various optical patterns, including multiple circles, squares, and triangles, were tested in order to enhance the efficiency of gene transfection. Consequently, the pattern of multiple triangular spots was experimentally confirmed to have the highest efficiency of gene transfection. In addition, three fluorescence carried plasmids could be successfully transfected into different types of cells by using the developed optically-induced electroporation platform at the same time. The developed microfluidic system may be promising for iPS research.