Manipulation of cell membrane using carbon nanotube scaffold as a photoresponsive stimuli generator.

We describe, for the first time, the perforation of the cell membrane in the targeted single cell based on the nanosecond pulsed near-infrared (NIR) laser irradiation of a thin film of carbon nanotubes that act as an effective photon absorber as well as stimuli generator. When the power of NIR laser is over 17.5 J/pulse, the cell membrane after irradiation is irreversibly disrupted and results in cell death. In sharp contrast, the perforation of the cell membrane occurs at suitable laser power (∼15 J/pulse) without involving cell termination.