Sonoporation of suspension cells with a single cavitation bubble in a microfluidic confinement

Abstract

We report here the sonoporation of HL60 (human promyelocytic leukemia) suspension cells in a microfluidic confinement using a single laser-induced cavitation bubble. Cavitation bubbles can induce membrane poration of cells located in their close vicinity. Membrane integrity of suspension cells placed in a microfluidic chamber is probed through either the calcein release out of calcein-loaded cells or the uptake of trypan blue. Cells that are located farther away than four times R_max (maximum bubble radius) from the cavitation bubble center remain fully unaffected, while cells closer than 0.75 R_max become porated with a probability of >75%. These results enable us to define a distance of 0.75 R_max as a critical interaction distance of the cavitation bubble with HL60 suspension cells. These experiments suggest that flow-induced poration of suspension cells is applicable in lab-on-a-chip systems, and this might be an interesting alternative to electroporation.