Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

Induction Of Cell Death Mechanisms And Apoptosis By Nanosecond Pulsed Electric Fields (Nspefs), Stephen J. Beebe, Nova M. Sain, Wei Ren

Bioelectrics Publications

Pulse power technology using nanosecond pulsed electric fields (nsPEFs) offers a new stimulus to modulate cell functions or induce cell death for cancer cell ablation. New data and a literature review demonstrate fundamental and basic cellular mechanisms when nsPEFs interact with cellular targets. NsPEFs supra-electroporate cells creating large numbers of nanopores in all cell membranes. While nsPEFs have multiple cellular targets, these studies show that nsPEF-induced dissipation of DeltaPsim closely parallels deterioration in cell viability. Increases in intracellular Ca2+ alone were not sufficient for cell death; however, cell death depended of the presence of Ca2+. When both events occur, cell …