Universal Strategy of Efficient Intracellular Macromolecule Directional Delivery Using Photothermal Pump Patch

Area of Science:

• Biotechnology
• Materials Science
• Cell Biology

Background:

• Delivering therapeutic macromolecules into cells and tissues efficiently and non-destructively remains a significant challenge.
• Photothermal methods offer potential for intracellular delivery, especially in vivo, but often lack directional control, limiting efficiency.
• Existing methods struggle with universal applicability for diverse cell types and therapeutic molecules.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a universal, efficient, and nondestructive delivery strategy for therapeutic macromolecules.
• To overcome the limitations of directional transmission in current photothermal delivery methods.
• To enable both in vitro and in vivo applications for intracellular macromolecule delivery.

Main Methods:

• Development of a novel photothermal pump (PTP) patch containing 'exogenous molecular reservoirs'.
• Application of laser irradiation to induce cell membrane rupture and reservoir shrinkage for directional molecule delivery.
• In vivo transdermal delivery experiments using the PTP patch for gene delivery into epidermal and dermal cells.

Main Results:

• The PTP patch demonstrated high-efficiency intracellular delivery of exogenous molecules by creating directional flow.
• The PTP patch facilitated non-invasive, transdermal delivery of target genes into skin cells in vivo.
• Exosomes produced by epidermal cells also participated in the in vivo gene delivery process.

Conclusions:

• The PTP patch represents a universal platform for highly efficient, nondestructive intracellular macromolecule delivery.
• This technology offers a new strategy for overcoming barriers in both in vitro and in vivo therapeutic delivery.
• The PTP patch shows significant promise for advancing gene therapy and other macromolecule-based treatments.