Electropermeabilization of Intact Maize Cells Induces an Oxidative Stress

Abstract

By applying electric field pulses through cell suspensions, cell membranes can be permeabilized transiently, giving free access to the cytosol. Electropulsation is now routinely used in cell biology when introducing various molecules such as proteins and nucleic acids into the cell. But the molecular and cellular bases of cell electropermeabilization are still unclear. In the present study, we observed that electropermeabilization of intact black Mexican sweet (BMS) maize cells induces a generation of oxygen species (oxidative jump). Using the chemiluminescent probe lucigenin, we have shown that the electroinduced chemiluminescent response depends on the level of the stress factor as shown by its dependence on the electric parameters (electric field intensity, duration, and number of pulses).While the electroinduced cell permeabilization has a short life, the oxidative jump that is triggered by this electropermeabilization is a much longer-lived response. The electroinduced loss in viability is linearly correlated to permeabilization. However, there is no correlation between the oxidative jump and the loss in viability. The modulation of oxygen species electroinduction by antioxidant products (dimethylsulfoxide, sodium L-ascorbate, and glutathione) does not lead to an increase in cell viability. Such results are different to those observed with mammalian cells and indicate that even if the same phenomenon is observed when pulsing mammalian or intact plant cells, the associated metabolic response is not the same.

Effect of pulsed electrical fields on the structural properties that affect french fry texture during processing

“…An increase in lucigenin luminescence was seen after pulsing black Mexican sweet maize cells with field strength larger than 150 V cm -1 with a 15 ms single pulse (Sabri, Pelissier, & Teissie, 1996). These authors attributed the increase in the luminescence to generation of activated forms of oxygen as an oxidative stress response of the cells to the PEF treatment.…”

Electroporation in Biological Cell and Tissue: An Overview

“…Reactive oxidative species are produced in response to oxidative stress in mammalian and plant cells exposed to electric pulses (Biedinger et al 1990;Teissié 1995a, Maccarrone et al 1995;Sabri et al 1996bSabri et al , 1998. Even if the cell viability is not directly correlated with reactive oxidative species production, gene electrotransfer efficiency is improved by post-pulse treatment with antioxidants, which protect the cell from reactive oxidative species (Sabri et al 1996;Sabri et al 1998).…”

Pulsed electric field reduces the permeability of potato cell wall

“…Procedures such as PEF application are known to induce stress and influence metabolic processes [Gabriel and Teissié, 1994;Sabri et al, 1996] in the surviving cells.…”