Analyses of the cell mechanical damage during microinjection

Abstract

The microinjection is an essential technique to introduce foreign materials into biological cells. The soft cell is inevitably ruptured by the microinjector during microinjection. We discuss the way to reduce the mechanical damage by analyzing the control parameters during microinjection. The computational model is developed with the dissipative particle dynamics to simulate the soft mechanical properties of biological cells. The cell model contains the membrane networks, the internal cytoskeleton, crosslink proteins, motors and their functions. The weak power law rheology verifies our computational model. The number of ruptured bonds is used to describe the extent of the mechanical damage that the cell experiences during microinjection. Some experiments are conducted on the Zebrafish embryos. Both the simulation works and experimental results show that the size, shape of the microinjector tip, and the injection velocity have a significant influence on the cell damage. A small, sharp microinjector with a high velocity can reduce the mechanical damage.