Self-consistent simulations of electroporation dynamics in biological cells subjected to ultrashort electrical pulses

Abstract

The temporal dynamics of electroporation of cells subjected to ultrashort voltage pulses are studied based on a coupled scheme involving the Laplace, Nernst-Plank, and Smoluchowski equations. A pore radius dependent energy barrier for ionic transport, accounts for cellular variations. It is shown that a finite time delay exists in pore formation, and leads to a transient overshoot of the transmembrane potential V(mem) beyond 1.0 V. Pore resealing is shown to consist of an initial fast process, a 10(-4) s delay, followed by a much slower closing at a time constant of about 10(-1) s. This establishes a time-window during which the pores are mostly open, and hence, the system is most vulnerable to destruction by a second electric pulse. The existence of such a time window for effective killing by a second pulse is amply supported by our experimental data for E. coli cells. The time constant for the longer process also matches experiments. The study suggests that controlled manipulation of the pore "open times" can be achieved through multiple, ultrashort pulses.

Nanosecond electric pulses penetrate the nucleus and enhance speckle formation

“…If these fields exceed the breakdown threshold of these membranes, nanopores will form in the organelle membranes [1,2]. To better understand the mechanism involved, mathematical models for the cellular electropermeabilization due to nsPEFs have been developed [3,4]. The resulting changes in cellular structures and functions differ significantly from traditional electroporation [microseconod to millisecond pulsed electric fields (PEFs)] [1,5,6].…”

Use of the z‐transform to investigate nanopulse penetration of biological matter

“…The results suggest an increasing probability of electric field interactions with cell substructures in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells as pulse width is reduced into the sub-microsecond range. Joshi and Schoenbach [2000] and Joshi et al [2001] have studied the temporal dynamics of electroporation of cells subjected to ultrashort voltage pulses, based on a coupled scheme involving the Laplace, Nernst-Planck, and Smoluchowski equations. The same authors have also proposed a self-consistent model analysis of electroporation in biological cells based on an improved energy model [Joshi and Schoenbach, 2002].…”

Biological cell–electrical field interaction: stochastic approach

“…In addition, short pulses of electric fields can induce electroporation, a rapid structural rearrangement of the membrane with the formation Fig. 1 Schematic of the macroscopic view of the passage of electrical current through multiple cells, dispersed in extracellular matrix (ECM) of transient pores [8]. As a consequence, the transport of ions across the membrane and hence, the current density changes abruptly.…”

“…As a consequence, the transport of ions across the membrane and hence, the current density changes abruptly. A dynamic interaction of cells with electric field involving both the membrane charging and discharging governs the rapid increase in membrane conductivity and consequently, the pore formation dynamics [8]. It has a number of applications in gene therapy, transdermal drug delivery and bacterial decontamination [3].…”