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Effects Of Nanosecond Pulse Electric Fields On Cellular Elasticity, Diganta Dutta, Anthony Asmar, Michael W. Stacey

Bioelectrics Publications

We investigated the effects of a single 60 nanosecond pulsed electric field (nsPEF) of low (15 kV/cm) and high (60 kV/cm) field strengths on cellular morphology and membrane elasticity in Jurkat cells using fluorescent microscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM). We performed force displacement measurements on cells using AFM and calculated the Young's modulus for membrane elasticity. Differential effects were observed depending upon pulsing conditions. We found that a single nsPEF of low field strength did not induce any apparent cytoskeletal breakdown and had minor morphological changes. Interestingly, force measurements and calculation of Young's modulus showed a significant decrease in …