JPH04234977A - Apparatus for electrical treatment of cell and syringe - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a readily handleable apparatus for electrical treatment of cells usable under conditions of micro-gravity. CONSTITUTION:One end of a cylinder 2 having a pair of opposite electrode plates 5 and 5 is provided with a suction and discharge hole 6 and a piston 3 is then inserted into the cylinder 2. When the suction and discharge hole 6 is placed in a cell suspension and the piston 3 is pulled, the cell suspension is sucked into the cylinder 3. The sucked cell suspension is kept in contact with the electrode plates 5 and 5 without hardening into spherical shapes even under micro-gravity.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cell electroprocessing device and a syringe, and more particularly to a cell electroprocessing device having opposed electrodes and a syringe including a cylinder and a piston.

0002

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Cell fusion and gene introduction into cells are carried out, for example, by electrically treating a cell suspension. As a device for electrically processing cells, there is known a cell electrical processing device that includes a main body having a chamber and a counter electrode disposed within the chamber. In this type of cell electroprocessing device, cells can be electrically processed by injecting a cell suspension into a chamber by pipetting and applying a voltage between opposing electrodes.

0003

Recently, in the field of cell engineering, attempts have been made to electrically process cells under zero gravity or microgravity, such as in a drop tower.

However, when attempting to electrically process cells under microgravity conditions using the conventional cell electroprocessing device, the cell suspension becomes spherical due to surface tension between the opposing electrodes. may not be in contact with one or both of the opposing electrodes. If the cell suspension does not come into good contact with the counter electrode, the cell suspension will not be electrically processed and cell fusion etc. will not be possible.

Furthermore, the conventional cell electroprocessing apparatus described above is not easy to handle because it is necessary to inject the cell suspension by pipetting.

An object of the present invention is to provide a cell electroprocessing device that is easy to handle and can be used even under microgravity conditions, and a syringe that can be used in this cell electroprocessing device.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] A cell electroprocessing device according to a first aspect of the invention includes a cylinder having an intake and exhaust hole, a counter electrode disposed within the cylinder, and a piston slidably inserted into the cylinder. We are prepared.

The syringe according to the second aspect of the invention includes a cylinder having a suction/discharge hole, and a piston having a protrusion that can be fitted into the suction/discharge hole and slidably inserted into the cylinder.

[0009]

[Operation] In the cell electroprocessing device of the first invention, when the piston is moved, the cell suspension in the cylinder is sucked into the cylinder through the suction and discharge hole, or the cell suspension in the cylinder is discharged from the suction and discharge hole. When inhaling the cell suspension, insert the piston all the way into the cylinder. Then, when the suction/discharge hole is placed in the cell suspension and the piston is pulled, the cell suspension is sucked into the cylinder. At this time, since the cell suspension is sucked into the cylinder by the amount of movement of the piston, almost no air is mixed into the cylinder. Therefore, even when the above operation is performed under microgravity, the cell suspension sucked into the cylinder will not solidify into a spherical shape due to surface tension.
Contact is maintained with a counter electrode located within the cylinder. Therefore, in the cell electroprocessing device of the present invention, even under microgravity conditions, the cell suspension can be electrically processed within the cylinder by applying a voltage between the opposing electrodes. Further, since the cell electroprocessing device of the present invention can directly electrically process the cell suspension sucked into the cylinder, it does not require pipetting operations as in the conventional example, and is easy to handle.

[0010] In the syringe of the second aspect of the invention, by arranging the suction/discharge hole in the liquid substance and sliding the piston, the liquid substance can be moved in and out of the cylinder. When pushing the piston to discharge the liquid substance from the suction/discharge hole, when the piston is pushed to the innermost part of the cylinder, the protrusion of the piston fits into the suction/discharge hole. As a result, the liquid substance accumulated in the suction/discharge hole is also discharged to the outside of the cylinder. Therefore, with the syringe of the present invention, the liquid substance sucked into the cylinder can be almost completely discharged.

[0011]

Embodiment FIGS. 1 to 3 show a cell electroprocessing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, cell electroprocessing device 1
is mainly composed of a cylinder 2 and a piston 3.

The cylinder 2 has a pair of opposing insulator plates 4.
, 4 and a pair of electrode plates 5, 5 facing each other. Note that the insulator plate 4 is made of glass, for example, and the inside of the cylinder 2 can be visually observed. At one end of cylinder 2,
A convex portion 6 is formed. Inside the convex portion 6 is a chamber 2a.
A suction/exhaust hole 6a is provided for communicating between the inside and the outside world. The diameter of the suction/discharge hole 6a is gradually reduced on the tip side of the convex portion 6. The other end of the cylinder 2 is provided with an opening 7 of the chamber 2a. A flange portion 7a is formed around the opening 7. A stopper 8 projects into the opening 7 from the flange portion 7a (FIG. 2).

The piston 3 is a prismatic member inserted into the chamber 2a of the cylinder 2. piston 3
has a groove 9 extending in the longitudinal direction. A stopper 8 is fitted into the groove 9. The piston 3 has a conical projection 10 at the tip of the cylinder 2 on the convex portion 6 side. This protrusion 10 can fit into the suction/exhaust hole 6a in the convex portion 6. Further, a flat pressing portion 11 is formed at the other end of the piston 3.

Next, an example of how to use the cell electroprocessing device 1 will be explained. When electrofusion of cells is performed, a cell suspension is sucked into the chamber 2a of the cell electroprocessing device 1. Here, first push the piston 3 to the innermost part of the cylinder 2, and insert the protrusion 10 of the piston 3 into the intake/discharge hole 6.
Insert it into a. Then, when the convex portion 6 of the cylinder 2 is immersed in the cell suspension and the piston 3 is gradually pulled up, the cell suspension is sucked into the chamber 2a through the suction/discharge hole 6a. At this time, since the piston 3 is inserted to the innermost part of the cylinder 2, the chamber 2a is filled with the cell suspension without any air being mixed in. Therefore, the inhaled cell suspension is transferred to both electrode plates 5, 5 facing each other in the chamber 2a.
be in close contact with

[0015] When the above-described cell suspension suction operation is performed under microgravity conditions such as in a drop tower, the cell suspension sucked into the chamber 2a tends to become spherical due to surface tension. Since no air is mixed into the chamber 2a, contact between the cell suspension and the electrode plates 5, 5 is maintained. Furthermore, if you accidentally release your hand from the piston 3 while inhaling a cell suspension under microgravity conditions, the piston 3 will try to come out of the cylinder 2 due to inertia, but the piston 3 will not fit into the groove 9. By abutting the end with the stopper 8, falling off from the cylinder 2 is prevented.

When the cell suspension suction operation is completed, the cell suspension sucked into the chamber 2a is subjected to electrical treatment. The cell suspension is electrically processed by attaching the cell electrical processing device 1 to an electrical processing holder 12 as shown in FIG. In FIG. 4, the electrical processing holder 12 is a prismatic container-shaped member made of an insulating material, and has an opening 12a at one end. A cap 13 made of an elastic member is placed on the bottom surface of the electrical processing holder 12 . This cap 13 is connected to the convex portion 6 of the cylinder 2 of the cell electroprocessing device 1.
It has a recessed portion 13a into which the material can be fitted. Further, a pair of electrodes 14,
14 are arranged. Each electrode 14 is bent into a U-shape. The electrical processing holder 12 is integrally provided with a receptacle 15 protruding from its outer peripheral surface. The receptacle 15 has conductive wires 14a from each electrode 14.
extends, and terminal electrodes (not shown) of each conductive wire 14a are arranged on the end surface.

When performing cell fusion, the cell electrical processing device 1 is inserted into the electrical processing holder 12. Inside the electrical processing holder 12, the cylinder 2 of the cell electrical processing device 1
The tip of the cap 13 is elastically supported by the projection 6 fitting into the recess 13a of the cap 13. Further, the other end of the cylinder 2 is stably supported by the flange portion 7a coming into contact with the opening 12a of the electrical processing holder 12. In addition,
The electrodes 14, 14 are electrode plates 5, 5 that constitute the cylinder 2.
Elastic pressure contact.

The cell electroprocessing device 1 is an electroprocessing holder 1
2, the plug 1 of the voltage application device (not shown)
6 is attached to the receptacle 15. Then, when the voltage application device is activated, a voltage is applied between the electrode plates 5, 5 of the cylinder 2. As a result, the cell suspension sucked into the chamber 2a is subjected to electrical processing, and the cells in the cell suspension are fused.

When the electrical processing is completed, the cell electrical processing device 1 is taken out from the electrical processing holder 12, and the cell suspension is collected. In this case, when the piston 3 is pushed into the cylinder 2, the cell suspension in the chamber 2a is pushed by the piston 3 and discharged from the suction/discharge hole 6a. Here, when the piston 3 is pushed to the innermost part of the cylinder 2, the piston 3
Because the protrusion 10 fits into the suction/discharge hole 6a, the suction/discharge hole 6a
Even the cell suspension accumulated inside can be discharged to the outside. Therefore, according to the cell electroprocessing device 1 of this embodiment, the electrotreated cell suspension can be efficiently recovered.

[0020]

Effects of the Invention In the cell electroprocessing device according to the first aspect of the invention, a counter electrode is disposed within a cylinder provided with a piston. Therefore, the cell electrofusion device according to the present invention is easy to handle and can be used even under microgravity conditions.

[0021] In the syringe according to the second aspect of the invention, the piston has a protrusion that can be fitted into the suction/discharge hole of the cylinder. Therefore, in the syringe according to the present invention, even the liquid substance accumulated in the suction/discharge hole can be almost completely discharged.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway front view of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the usage state of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Cell electroprocessing device 2 Cylinder 3 Piston 5 Counter electrode 6a Suction and exhaust hole 10.Protrusion.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A cell electroprocessing device comprising: a cylinder having an intake/exhaust hole; a counter electrode disposed within the cylinder; and a piston slidably inserted into the cylinder. 2. A syringe comprising: a cylinder having a suction/discharge hole; and a piston slidably inserted into the cylinder and having a protrusion that can be fitted into the suction/discharge hole.