Cells are not isolated units. They continually exchange proteins, genetic material, and even entire organelles with their neighbors. Cell-to-cell movement influences how tissues develop, respond to stress, and repair damage. For example, in certain cancers, tumor cells can acquire mitochondria from nearby cells to maintain proliferation. A similar exchange is also associated with the aging process. However, despite significant advances in gene editing and molecular targeting techniques, tools to directly and reliably manipulate the cytoplasmic composition of living cells are still lacking.
Over the past few decades, many attempts have been made toward this goal, but challenges have arisen at multiple stages. Extraction of cytoplasmic material often relies on cell lysis using detergents or enzymes that disrupt the cells. Ultrasound and other advanced physical disruption methods must be carefully tailored to avoid damaging biomolecules and are too time-consuming. Delivery of substances into cells presents additional challenges. Lipid-based carriers are limited to small molecules, viral vectors are expensive, and microinjection techniques are difficult to scale up. To date, there are no approaches that allow controlled and efficient cytoplasmic import without compromising cell viability.
Against this background, a research team led by Professor Takeo Miyake of Waseda University set out to develop a system that would overcome the existing limitations. Their latest research is small science reported a nanotube membrane-based injector on March 17, 2026. This is a platform that combines nanomaterials and fluid physics to directly transfer cytoplasmic contents between cell populations.
The system consists of a thin gold film with vertically aligned nanotubes on a glass tube. When this membrane is carefully pressed onto cultured cells, the nanotubes penetrate the phospholipid bilayer of living cells without causing significant damage. By adjusting the internal air pressure of the glass tube, the researchers are able to “siphon” cytoplasmic material from the source cells, retain it as they reposition the tube onto the target cell culture, and use microliters of buffer to gently flush it onto this new population.
Through several experiments using fluorescent dyes and protein assays, the researchers confirmed that cytoplasmic contents can be extracted in a pressure-dependent manner. They also discovered that careful selection of nanotube diameter, nanotube density, and applied pressure was key to minimizing cell damage. Notably, under optimized conditions, cell viability remained around 95% and cytoplasmic import efficiency was well above 90%.
To further test the platform’s functionality, the team investigated whether intact mitochondria could be transplanted. To this end, they labeled donor cell mitochondria with fluorescent tags and observed recipient cell mitochondria using confocal microscopy. They found that they could reliably deliver dozens of mitochondria per cell. Most importantly, these mitochondria remained functional, as evidenced by significantly higher levels of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) produced in recipient cells compared to controls. ”This technology establishes a new paradigm for cell manipulation. Transform cells by reconstructing the intracellular composition rather than by genetic modification,” says Professor Miyake.
Such controlled cytoplasmic engineering enabled by the proposed nanotube injector may support the development of next-generation cell therapies, improved disease models, and more accurate drug screening platforms. ”Direct transfer of healthy mitochondria or cytoplasmic components into target cells is particularly relevant for regenerative medicine, where therapeutic cells often suffer from reduced metabolic activity and functional heterogeneity after isolation and expansion.” Professor Miyake emphasizes.This technology provides a new strategy to improve the quality of cells before transplantation by restoring or enhancing mitochondrial function without genetic modification.”
Overall, this innovative system paves the way to a new level of control in cell biology research, biotechnology and biomedical applications.
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Reference magazines:
Liu, B. others. (2026). Nanotube injector for cytoplasmic transplantation and enhancement of mitochondrial function. A little science. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/smsc.202500598
