Electroporation

Abstract

An electroporation system may include a well plate, a dispenser and a dispenser-well positioning system. The well plate may include wells, each of the wells including an interior, a first electrode adjacent the interior and a second electrode adjacent the interior and spaced from the first electrode. The first electrode and the second electrode are to apply an electrostatic field across the well. The dispenser is to dispense a cell having a diameter into each of the wells. The dispenser-well positioning system is to align each well and the dispenser such that the dispenser dispenses the cell into each well at a location spaced from the first electrode and the second electrode by a distance of at least 5 times the diameter of the cell.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An electroporation system comprising:
 a well support to carry a well plate comprising wells, the well support including at least one datum surface to contact the well plate to position each of the wells of the well plate;   a dispenser including a plurality of reservoirs containing different fluids and a plurality of fluid jetting devices to selectively dispense the different fluids, including a cell having a diameter, into each of the wells; and   a dispenser-well positioning system including a controller and an actuator, wherein the controller is communicatively coupled to the actuator and programmed to align each well of the well plate and the dispenser based upon a position of at least one datum surface of the well support and a position of the dispenser such that the dispenser dispenses the cell into each respective well at a location spaced from a first electrode of the respective well and a second electrode of the respective well by a distance of at least 5 times the diameter of the cell;   wherein the electroporation system is configured to apply, via one or more electrodes of the well plate, an electrostatic field across individual wells of the well plate.   
     
     
         2 . The electroporation system of  claim 1 , further comprising the well plate comprising the wells, each of the wells comprising:
 an interior formed by first and second sidewalls and a floor;   a first electrode adjacent the interior and which extends along an interior side surface of the first sidewall; and   a second electrode adjacent the interior and which extends along an interior side surface of the second sidewall, and the second electrode being spaced from the first electrode by the floor;   wherein the first electrode and the second electrode are configured to apply an electrostatic field across the respective well.   
     
     
         3 . The electroporation system of  claim 2 , wherein each of the first and second electrodes of the well is directly exposed to contents of the respective well, wherein the different fluids include:
 fluids containing different types of cells, different types of electroporation solutions, and different types of transfection agents.   
     
     
         4 . The electroporation system of  claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of fluid jetting devices comprises a thermal resistive fluid actuator to eject the cell through a nozzle, and wherein the actuator of the dispenser-well positioning system is configured to move at least one of the dispenser or the well plate to position the nozzle of the dispenser at the position to dispense a cell into a respective well of the well plate at the location spaced from the first electrode and the second electrode of the respective well by the distance of at least 5 times the diameter of the cell. 
     
     
         5 . The electroporation system of  claim 1 , wherein the dispenser-well positioning system comprises:
 the at least one datum surface to contact the well plate to position each of the wells of the well plate at a predetermined location;   the actuator to move the well support and the well plate relative to the dispenser; and   the controller programmed to control the actuator based upon a position of the at least one datum surface and a position of the dispenser to control positioning of the well plate relative to the dispenser.   
     
     
         6 . The electroporation system of  claim 5 , further comprising a second actuator to move the dispenser relative to the well support and the well plate, wherein the controller is further programmed to control the second actuator based upon a position of the at least one datum surface. 
     
     
         7 . The electroporation system of  claim 1 , wherein the dispenser-well positioning system comprises:
 the at least one datum surface to contact the well plate to position each of the wells of the well plate at a predetermined location, the well plate including at least one member to contact against the at least one datum surface and to position the well plate;   the actuator to move the dispenser relative to the well support and the well plate; and   the controller programmed to control the actuator based upon a position of the at least one datum surface and the position of the dispenser to control positioning of the dispenser relative to the well plate.   
     
     
         8 . The electroporation system of  claim 1 , wherein the dispenser-well positioning system comprises:
 a sensor to sense the positioning of the well plate.   
     
     
         9 . The electroporation system of  claim 8 , wherein the sensor includes a photo emitter-detector arrangement. 
     
     
         10 . The electroporation system of  claim 8 , wherein the sensor includes electrical contacts or switches. 
     
     
         11 . The electroporation system of  claim 8 , wherein the dispenser-well positioning system further comprises:
 the actuator operably coupled to at least one of the well plate or the dispenser to move said at least one of the well plate and the dispenser relative to one another; and   the controller programmed to control the actuator based upon signals from the sensor indicating a sensed positioning of the well plate.   
     
     
         12 . The electroporation system of  claim 1 , wherein the dispenser includes an impedance sensor to count a number of cells dispensed into each of the wells. 
     
     
         13 . The electroporation system of  claim 1 , wherein the dispenser includes an optical sensor to count a number of cells dispensed into each of the wells. 
     
     
         14 . The electroporation system of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is programmed to:
 differently charge the first electrode and the second electrode of each of the wells to form different P electrostatic fields within each of the wells based on cell types of cells within each of the wells.   
     
     
         15 . The electroporation system of  claim 14 , wherein the controller is further programmed to:
 cause selective dispensing of M different types of cells, N different types of transfection agents, and R different electroporation solutions to the wells, and form P different electrostatic fields, wherein the different fluids include the M different types of cells, the N different types of transfection agents, and the R different electroporation solutions; and   form a library of electrostatic field values for the different types of cells and different types of transfection agents based on a comparison of an agent transfection result for each of the wells.   
     
     
         16 . The electroporation system of  claim 1 , further comprising the well plate, wherein the first electrode and the second electrode of each well respectively extend along first and second sidewalls and out of each well and along an exterior surface of a member of the well plate to provide electrical connections, and the first and second electrodes are electrically isolated from one another and separated by a floor. 
     
     
         17 . The electroporation system of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the at least one datum surface is configured to contact the well plate to position each of the wells of the well plate at a predetermined location, the at least one datum surface including:
 at least one protuberance projecting along a top side of the well support; and 
 at least one detent that extends into the top side of the well support; and 
   wherein the controller is programmed to control the actuator to move the well support relative to the dispenser based upon the position of the at least one datum surface and the position of the dispenser to control positioning of the well plate relative to the dispenser.   
     
     
         18 . The electroporation system of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the at least one datum surface is selected from:   a protuberance projecting along a top side of the well support;   a detent that extends into the top side of the well support; or   a combination thereof; and   wherein the well plate includes at least one detent that extends into an underside of the well plate and a protuberance that extends from the underside of the well plate to abut the at least one datum surface and facilitate alignment of the dispenser with the wells of the well plate.   
     
     
         19 . An electroporation system comprising:
 a well support to carry a well plate comprising wells, the well support including at least one datum surface to contact the well plate to position each of the wells of the well plate;   a plurality of reservoirs containing different fluids including a plurality of different types of cells;   a cell dispenser coupled to the plurality of reservoirs and including a plurality of fluid jetting devices;   at least one actuator operably coupled to the well plate and the cell dispenser; and   a controller programmed to output control signals to:
 cause the at least one actuator to align each well and the cell dispenser based upon a position of the at least one datum surface and a position of the cell dispenser and to cause the cell dispenser to selectively dispense a different type of cell among the plurality of different types of cells from the plurality of reservoirs into each of the wells; and 
 form an electrostatic field within each of the wells via a first electrode of the respective well and a second electrode of the respective well; 
   wherein the actuator and the controller form part of a dispenser-well positioning system programmed to align each well of the wells and the cell dispenser such that the cell dispenser dispenses the cell into each respective well at a location spaced from the first electrode of the respective well and the second electrode of the respective well by a distance of at least 10 times a diameter of the cell.   
     
     
         20 . The electroporation system of  claim 19 , wherein the controller is programmed to differently charge the first electrode and the second electrode of each of the wells to form different electrostatic fields within each of the wells based on the different types of cells within each of the wells.