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ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY

Scalable breakthrough

Nature Nanotechnology volume 13, pages 875–876 (2018)Cite this article

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Meta-electrodes, lasing and optoacoustic poration achieve network-wide intracellular recording.

Long-term, accurate intracellular monitoring of electrical activity in networks of excitable cells is crucial for both biophysical studies and pharmaceutical research. Micha Spira et al. pioneered the use of minimally invasive extracellular tools to record synaptic- and action-potentials, with features similar to intracellular recordings1. In that work, mushroom-shaped gold microelectrode arrays displayed cellular engulfment and promoted tight electrical coupling with neurons. Subsequently, phospholipid coating2 and electroporation methodologies3,4 have been adopted to promote cellular entry of nanowire and nanopillar-based tools for electrical recordings. Most recently, Francesco De Angelis and colleagues combined three-dimensional nanoelectrodes and plasmonic optoporation5, which does not perturb spontaneous electrical activity, to record extra- and intracellular electrical signals from cardiac cells. Significant advances have also been made in the areas of material-based cellular modulation and structural studies of biointerfaces. For example, nanostructured silicon6 and polymers7,8 have been developed for the optical modulation of excitable and non-excitable cells, through photoelectrochemical, photocapacitive or photothermal effects. In the field of structural studies, Bianxiao Cui et al. have extensively investigated the junctions between nano- and micro-structures and various cellular components, showing the influence of the material’s curvature on the distribution of endocytic proteins9. However, besides these three elements (that is, sensing, modulation and structural control), electrophysiology biointerfaces still require key features such as scalability to achieve broad societal impact.

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Fig. 1: Optoacoustic poration enables scalable intracellular electrophysiology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Medical Scientist Training Program, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Ramya Parameswaran

  2. Department of Chemistry, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Bozhi Tian

Authors
  1. Ramya Parameswaran
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  2. Bozhi Tian
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Correspondence to Bozhi Tian.

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Parameswaran, R., Tian, B. Scalable breakthrough. Nature Nanotech 13, 875–876 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-018-0248-2

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