Femtosecond laser disruption of mitochondria in living cells

Abstract Studying intact organelles and their function in a living cell is essential to understand cell dynamics. Femtosecond laser pulses in the near-infrared region have potential applications in nanosurgery in cell biology. We investigate the disruption of subcellular organelles in living cells by focusing femtosecond laser pulses inside the cells. When intense femtosecond laser pulses are tightly focused at the targeted organelles, the intensity around the focal volume can become high enough to result in a permanently damaged region in the cell with sub-micron size. Femtosecond laser disruption offers precise control of material removal or modifications of organelles in the cell. The subcellular disruption of mitochondria in living cells was demonstrated by restaining experiments. Femtosecond laser-based nanosurgery has the possibility to provide information on the function and dynamics of organelles in living cells.

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