Research article

Two-dimensional nanosecond electric field mapping based on cell electropermeabilization

Meng-Tse Chen¹*, Chunqi Jiang², P Thomas Vernier²³, Yu-Hsuan Wu¹ and Martin A Gundersen¹²

• * Corresponding author: Meng-Tse Chen mengtsec@usc.edu

Author Affiliations

¹ Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA

² Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical Engineering-Electrophysics, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA

³ MOSIS, Information Sciences Institute, University of Southern California, Marina del Rey, CA 90292, USA

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PMC Biophysics 2009, 2:9 doi:10.1186/1757-5036-2-9

Published: 11 November 2009

Abstract

Nanosecond, megavolt-per-meter electric pulses cause permeabilization of cells to small molecules, programmed cell death (apoptosis) in tumor cells, and are under evaluation as a treatment for skin cancer. We use nanoelectroporation and fluorescence imaging to construct two-dimensional maps of the electric field associated with delivery of 15 ns, 10 kV pulses to monolayers of the human prostate cancer cell line PC3 from three different electrode configurations: single-needle, five-needle, and flat-cut coaxial cable. Influx of the normally impermeant fluorescent dye YO-PRO-1 serves as a sensitive indicator of membrane permeabilization. The level of fluorescence emission after pulse exposure is proportional to the applied electric field strength. Spatial electric field distributions were compared in a plane normal to the center axis and 15-20 μm from the tip of the center electrode. Measurement results agree well with models for the three electrode arrangements evaluated in this study. This live-cell method for measuring a nanosecond pulsed electric field distribution provides an operationally meaningful calibration of electrode designs for biological applications and permits visualization of the relative sensitivities of different cell types to nanoelectropulse stimulation. PACS Codes: 87.85.M-