Nanoscale Methods for Longitudinal Extraction of Intracellular Contents.

Area of Science:

• Cell Biology
• Nanotechnology
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Longitudinal analysis of intracellular contents (gene/protein expression) is vital for understanding cell dynamics, tissue behavior, and advancing disease diagnosis and drug development.
• Traditional destructive methods and current non-destructive techniques (e.g., single-cell RNA-seq, live-cell imaging) have limitations, including single-time-point insights, cellular heterogeneity challenges, reliance on assumptions, or risk of perturbation.
• Advances in nanoscale technologies offer non-destructive intracellular content extraction, addressing limitations of existing longitudinal analysis workflows.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review emerging nanotechnologies for non-destructive, repeated intracellular content extraction.
• To discuss the potential of these nanotechnologies in longitudinal cell analysis.
• To explore critical requirements for effective repeated sampling and the suitability of different techniques for various applications.

Main Methods:

• Focuses on nanoscale technologies for repeated intracellular content extraction.
• Classifies novel methods into three categories: tip-facilitated aspiration, membrane-based, and probe-based techniques.
• Discusses the potential and challenges of these emerging nanotechnologies.

Main Results:

• Nanoscale technologies provide a promising solution for non-destructive, repeated intracellular content extraction.
• These methods enable access to cellular membranes at the nanoscale without causing destruction.
• The perspective categorizes and analyzes three main types of emerging nanotechnologies for this purpose.

Conclusions:

• Emerging nanotechnologies for repeated intracellular content extraction hold significant potential for advancing longitudinal cell analysis.
• Addressing critical requirements for repeated sampling and exploring technique suitability are key for future research.
• Further research into unresolved challenges is encouraged to fully leverage these nanotechnologies in understanding cell dynamics and disease.