TY - EJOU AU - Shen, Nan AU - Datta, Dabajyoti AU - Schaffer, Chris B. AU - Mazur, Eric TI - Ablation of cytoskeletal filaments and mitochondria in live cells using a femtosecond laser nanoscissor T2 - Molecular \& Cellular Biomechanics PY - 2005 VL - 2 IS - 1 SN - 1556-5300 AB - Analysis of cell regulation requires methods for perturbing molecular processes within living cells with spatial discrimination on the nanometer-scale. We present a technique for ablating molecular structures in living cells using low-repetition rate, low-energy femtosecond laser pulses. By tightly focusing these pulses beneath the cell membrane, we ablate cellular material inside the cell through nonlinear processes. We selectively removed sub-micrometer regions of the cytoskeleton and individual mitochondria without altering neighboring structures or compromising cell viability. This nanoscissor technique enables non-invasive manipulation of the structural machinery of living cells with several-hundred-nanometer resolution. Using this approach, we unequivocally demonstrate that mitochondria are structurally independent functional units, and do not form a continuous network as suggested by some past studies. KW - Nanoscissor KW - nanosurgery KW - femtosecond laser KW - photodisruption KW - cytoskeleton DO - 10.3970/mcb.2005.002.017