Our group has demonstrated the possibility to use photothermal nanofibers and laser irradiation as a new methodology to deliver gene editing effector molecules in living cells. We have demonstrated broad applicability in different therapeutic cells, such as T cells and stem cells, with a variety of effector molecules, such as siRNA and CRISPR/Cas9 technology. Importantly, we were able to show that the quality of the therapeutic cells is significantly better as compared to commercially available technologies, leading to better therapeutic potency of the final cell product.
More information can be found in the original publication (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41565-021-00976-3) or in this blog article: https://bioengineeringcommunity.nature.com/posts/safe-engineering-of-therapeutic-cells-with-photothermal-nanofibers
Xiong R., Hua D., Van Hoeck J., Berdecka D., Léger L., De Munter S., Fraire J., Raes L., Harizaj A., Sauvage F., Goetgeluk G., Pille M., Aalders J., Belza J., Van Acker T., Fernandez E.B., Si T., Vanhaecke F., De Vos W., Vandekerckhove B., van Hengel J., Raemdonck K., Huang C., De Smedt S.C., Braeckmans K. Photothermal nanofibers enable safe engineering of therapeutic cells. Nat. Nanotechnol. DOI: 10.1038/s41565-021-00976-3 (2021).