title: A nonuniform electrical field electroporation chamber design.
abstract: We show an inexpensive design for an electroporation chamber which subjects electroporated cells to a nonuniform electrical field. Our design, which we call an electroporation cylinder, improved transfection efficiency over that of a uniform field design (electroporation cuvettes) by about sixfold when tested in five mouse cell lines with a transient gene expression assay. Electroporation cylinders subjected cells to electrical field strengths at least as powerful as those of electroporation cuvettes, as judged by comparing the percentages of cells killed by electroporation. Cylinder and cuvette designs were similar in their effect on the variability of transfection efficiency. Electroporation cylinders may be particularly useful when the optimal electrical field strength for a cell line is not known or is unattainable with a given power supply.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, University of Washington, Seattle 98195.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hollon
authors.forename: F K
authors.initials: FK
authors.lastname: Yoshimura
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002463:Cell Membrane Permeability; D004574:Electromagnetic Fields; D007942:Leukemia, Experimental / Q000235:genetics; D051379:Mice; D010957:Plasmids / Q000235:genetics; D014162:Transfection; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured