Spatio-temporally controlled transfection by quantitative injection into a single cell

Transfection-based cellular control has been widely used in biology; however, conventional transfection methods cannot control spatio-temporal differences in gene expression or the quantity of delivered materials such as external DNA or RNA. Here, we present a non-viral and spatio-temporally controlled transfection technique of a quantitative injection into a single cell. DNA was quantitatively injected into a single cell at a desired location and time, and the optimal gene delivery and expression conditions were determined based on the amount of the delivered DNA and the transfection efficacy. Interestingly, an injection of 1500 DNAs produced an about average 30% gene expression efficiency, which was the optimal condition, and gene expression was sustained for more than 14 days. In a single cell, fluorescent intensity and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) results were compared for the quantity of gene expression. The high coincidence of both results suggests that the fluorescence intensity can reveal gene expression level which was investigated by PCR. In addition, 3 multiple DNA genes were successfully expressed in a single cell with different ratio. Overall, these results demonstrate that spatio-temporally controlled transfection by quantitative transfection is a useful technique for regulating gene expression in a single cell, which suggests that this technique may be used for stem cell research, including the creation of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells.