# High-Precision Non-Contact Plasmon-Induced Intracellular Delivery

> **NIH NIH K99** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · 2020 · $90,437

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
The recent emergence of robust genome editing methods (CRISPR associated targeted nuclease technologies)
and their applications to stem cells has led to revolutionary breakthrough in the research and development of
next-generation gene-editing therapies. In order to facilitate the transfection, gene-editing materials need to be
delivered into cells in a rapid, efficient, and safe manner. Although some of the physical and biochemical
methods for intracellular delivery are now used routinely in laboratory settings, issues with efficiency, throughput,
and toxicity have limited their clinical implementations for universal delivering all-sizes of cargos into all-types of
cells.
To directly address the aforementioned challenges, this proposal aims to develop a high-precision
plasmon-induced intracellular delivery scheme which utilizes the highly localized and intensified
electromagnetic field in the close proximity of the plasmonic nanopipettes. The goal is to develop an integrated
platform, with an emphasis on stem cell gene-editing, for universal approach of intracellular delivery and
characterization for all varieties of cargo and cell types with high-efficiency and -viability from single-cell to
millions of cells. Two prototype platforms will be developed: i) plasmonic nanopipettes for non-contact
intracellular delivery through combining with scanning ion conductance microscopy; and ii) Parallelization of
plasmonic nanopipettes via inertial microfluidics. Successfully completion of these two aims would lead to
realization of universal intracellular delivery without physically penetrating the cell membranes, with
single-cargo, single-cell precision. Furthermore, near-field optical sensing will be introduced into the developed
platforms. It will provide a direct route to non-invasive, continuous, label-free biosensing with single-molecule
sensitivity. Therefore, not only the fundamental mechanism of the plasmon-induced delivery will be interrogated,
but it will also provide an in-situ feedback to further improvement of the developed platforms.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9988409
- **Project number:** 5K99EB028325-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES
- **Principal Investigator:** Naihao Chiang
- **Activity code:** K99 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $90,437
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-08-05 → 2021-09-21

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9988409

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9988409, High-Precision Non-Contact Plasmon-Induced Intracellular Delivery (5K99EB028325-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9988409. Licensed CC0.

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