Cell manipulation

A range of micro-pipettes enables scientists to micro-inject cells that until now have been difficult to inject.

A gentle touch, rather than the conventional stabbing action, is all that is required to micro-inject cells using a range of lipid-coated micro-pipettes. The easy-to-use devices are based on SLAM (soft lipid assisted micro-injection) technology.

The devices will also make existing micro-injections - which involve piercing the cell with a stab of the micro-pipette - easier to perform and less damaging to cells.

Researchers at the University of Wales College of Medicine have discovered that by coating pipettes with a certain type of lipid (an organic compound insoluble in water, but soluble in organic solvents such as fatty acids) they were able to micro-inject cells with greaterease.

Using the technology, Cell Engineering has produced a cost-effective range of lipid-capped glass or quartz micro-pipettes. The lipids chosen have the molecular property of spontaneously forming bilayers on contact with water, and therefore fuse with the lipid bilayer of the plasma membrane of the cell on contact. This permits material to be transferred from the micro-pipette to the cell interior, or from the lipid cap to the cell membrane, without the cell being penetrated. As a gentle touch, rather than a stab, is all that is required, no damage is caused to the cell.

The SLAM technique may lead to advances in tools for in-vitro fertilisation and gene therapy.