Tumor Cell Permeabilization in vitro under the Action of Pulsed Electric Fields

摘要

A systematic experimental study was undertaken to explore the irreversible in vitro permeabilization of tumor cells under the action of 6-μs pulses of electric field in the intensity range 1-7 kV/cm. In a mode where a confined plasma discharge was initiated within a specially designed chamber, enhanced cell death was observed in the cell suspension, which was explained by the simultaneous action of the electric field and an acoustic shock-wave pulse. If, in a mode where no electrical breakdown was induced, the duration of a pulse of electric field of 1-2 kV/cm intensity was increased to 60 μs, the permeabilization efficiency rose by almost an order of magnitude. Experimental data were compared with the known theoretical models of electroporation of cell membranes.