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5063868 
Journal Article 
Photoacoustic transfection of DNA encoding GFP 
Silva, AD; Serpa, C; Arnaut, LG 
2019 
1 
Scientific Reports
EISSN: 2045-2322 
9 
1 
2553 
English 
30796229 
WOS:000459399400022 
Photoacoustic transfection consists in the use of photoacoustic waves, generated in the thermoelastic expansion of a confined material absorbing a short pulse of a laser, to produce temporary mechanical deformations of the cell membrane and facilitate the delivery of plasmid DNA into cells. We show that high stress gradients, produced when picosecond laser pulses with a fluence of 100 mJ/cm2 are absorbed by piezophotonic materials, enable transfection of a plasmid DNA encoding Green Fluorescent Protein (gWizGFP, 3.74 MDa) in COS-7 monkey fibroblast cells with an efficiency of 5% at 20 °C, in 10 minutes. We did not observe significant cytotoxicity under these conditions. Photoacoustic transfection is scalable, affordable, enables nuclear localization and the dosage is easily controlled by the laser parameters.