The Axoporator 800A will allow the electroporation process to be performed on individual cells in a technique that has been typically performed on many cells at once. Low success rates and high cell mortality have made the technique unsuitable for single cells.
Al Walter, director of technical support at Axon said: "The technology is suitable for targetting single cells, for example if the cell of interest is encased within a tissue."
Electroporation is a technique in which the use of strong, brief pulses of electric current is used to create temporary holes in cell membranes, allowing the introduction of DNA or molecules of interest into single isolated cells in culture, tissue slice or in intact animals.
The Axoporator's micropipette-based delivery system uses voltage pulses to cause the transient formation of membrane pores through which flow molecules and/or ions. This allows precise regions of the cell to be selectively targeted such as the basal, neurite and axon.
Walter added: "Biophysically speaking, the technology does allow for new variations on existing experiments to be performed. For example the Axoporator is sensitive enough to target single cells in fly embryos."
The proprietary technique, claimed to achieve average transfection and cell survival rates near 80 per cent, was developed by Owe Orwar, chief science officer of Sweden-based Cellectricon. Orwar holds the patent on the technique and licensed it to Axon.
This is important for applications where a small number of cells are available, or when the researcher wants to target specific cells, or when the molecules of interest are rare and valuable.
Walter said: "The electroporator's main advantage is its ability to perform multiple electroporations. The possibility of inserting material into a single cell over the course of three days is entirely feasible.
"In addition the electroporator's method allows a much improved cell survival rate because the micropipette comes in contact only with a very small portion of the cell membrane, and thus they're not as readily damaged as with mass electroporation."
Alan Finkel, CEO of Axon Instruments, said: "The Axoporator 800A electroporator combines patch-clamp technology and precision waveform generation."
"We are confident that single-cell electroporation can fill the niche where traditional electroporation are inappropriate. For example on stem cells that are typically available in very small quantities."
Walter said: "The technology's first batch completely sold out and we fully expect the second run to do the same. Our main customers were mainly research institutions and universities."
The Axoporator is available at a cost of $5,800.