Cell Electroporation

Cellular poration consists of creating pores in the cell membrane to transiently change its permeability. One main application of this is the introduction of foreign substances, such as drugs, genes or nanoparticles in the cells. One particular technique to create pores in the cell membrane is electroporation; there, pores are formed by exposing the cells to an electrical treatment consisting typically of short pulses of a high voltage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroporation

While the technique of electroporation is widely and increasingly used, for cell transfection for instance, its performance remains limited, and its success yield low (40-60%). Several causes are found for this. In general, the process of pore formation is ill-controlled and still not well-understood. The set-up is also not fully optimized: typically, the cell suspension is placed in cuvettes with a capacity of 1 mL (1 cm thickness) and equipped with integrated electrodes. The electric field is not homogeneously distributed in the cell solution, and a very high voltage must be applied to reach the critical transmembrane potential where pores form in the membrane. This notably can lead to the generation oh hazardous chemicals on the electrodes, which are toxic to the cells. Finally, a cell population is heterogeneous and cells within the same population respond differently to the applied electric field. In other words, some cells die, some cells are viably porated while a percentage of the population remains fully unaffected.

Here, two approaches are independently taken to improve the process of pore formation. In a first approach, planar models of cell membranes, or BLMs (bilayer lipid membranes), are employed to better understand the process of (electro)pore formation. Secondly, microfluidic and miniaturized platforms are developed to enhance the control on electroporation. Single cell electroporation is demonstrated in a dedicated microfluidic platform, while monolayers of cells are porated in more natural conditions in a miniaturized device.

Contact persons

Dr. Séverine Le Gac

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Home News & Highlights People Vacancies Research Education & Assignments Publications Intranet Internal Links External links Movies Sitemap Search	Emerging research topics \| Cells on chips \| Electrochemical systems \| Micro- and nanofluidics \| Nanosensing and Technology Cell Electroporation Cellular poration consists of creating pores in the cell membrane to transiently change its permeability. One main application of this is the introduction of foreign substances, such as drugs, genes or nanoparticles in the cells. One particular technique to create pores in the cell membrane is electroporation; there, pores are formed by exposing the cells to an electrical treatment consisting typically of short pulses of a high voltage. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroporation While the technique of electroporation is widely and increasingly used, for cell transfection for instance, its performance remains limited, and its success yield low (40-60%). Several causes are found for this. In general, the process of pore formation is ill-controlled and still not well-understood. The set-up is also not fully optimized: typically, the cell suspension is placed in cuvettes with a capacity of 1 mL (1 cm thickness) and equipped with integrated electrodes. The electric field is not homogeneously distributed in the cell solution, and a very high voltage must be applied to reach the critical transmembrane potential where pores form in the membrane. This notably can lead to the generation oh hazardous chemicals on the electrodes, which are toxic to the cells. Finally, a cell population is heterogeneous and cells within the same population respond differently to the applied electric field. In other words, some cells die, some cells are viably porated while a percentage of the population remains fully unaffected. Here, two approaches are independently taken to improve the process of pore formation. In a first approach, planar models of cell membranes, or BLMs (bilayer lipid membranes), are employed to better understand the process of (electro)pore formation. Secondly, microfluidic and miniaturized platforms are developed to enhance the control on electroporation. Single cell electroporation is demonstrated in a dedicated microfluidic platform, while monolayers of cells are porated in more natural conditions in a miniaturized device. *Contact persons* Dr. Séverine Le Gac