Overview
Three strategies can be used to introduce caged compounds into cells: cell-permeant peptide vectors, bead loading, and microinjection. In bead loading, cells are bathed in a medium containing the peptide/protein of interest. Glass beads are then sprinkled onto the cells. The beads create temporary holes in the cell membranes, allowing some of the peptide molecules to enter cells at random. Due to the low efficiency of this technique, a large amount of protein or peptide is needed to label a relatively small number of cells.
David Humphrey, Zenon Rajfur, Barbara Imperiali, Gerald Marriott, Partha Roy, and Ken Jacobson
Details
Details of this protocol, Introduction Of Caged Peptide/Protein Into Cells Using Bead Loading (Subscription Required), are located on a web site other than Biocompare Protocols.