title: Effect of electric field induced transmembrane potential on spheroidal cells: theory and experiment.
abstract: The transmembrane potential on a cell exposed to an electric field is a critical parameter for successful cell permeabilization. In this study, the effect of cell shape and orientation on the induced transmembrane potential was analyzed. The transmembrane potential was calculated on prolate and oblate spheroidal cells for various orientations with respect to the electric field direction, both numerically and analytically. Changing the orientation of the cells decreases the induced transmembrane potential from its maximum value when the longest axis of the cell is parallel to the electric field, to its minimum value when the longest axis of the cell is perpendicular to the electric field. The dependency on orientation is more pronounced for elongated cells while it is negligible for spherical cells. The part of the cell membrane where a threshold transmembrane potential is exceeded represents the area of electropermeabilization, i.e. the membrane area through which the transport of molecules is established. Therefore the surface exposed to the transmembrane potential above the threshold value was calculated. The biological relevance of these theoretical results was confirmed with experimental results of the electropermeabilization of plated Chinese hamster ovary cells, which are elongated. Theoretical and experimental results show that permeabilization is not only a function of electric field intensity and cell size but also of cell shape and orientation.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Trzaska 25, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Blaz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Valic
authors.forename: Muriel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Golzio
authors.forename: Mojca
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pavlin
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schatz
authors.forename: Cecile
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Faurie
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gabriel
authors.forename: Justin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Teissié
authors.forename: Marie-Pierre
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Rols
authors.forename: Damijan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Miklavcic
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016466:CHO Cells; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000502:physiology* / Q000528:radiation effects* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002463:Cell Membrane Permeability / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects; D016764:Cell Polarity / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects; D048429:Cell Size / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects; D003198:Computer Simulation; D006224:Cricetinae; D003412:Cricetulus; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D004574:Electromagnetic Fields; D018274:Electroporation / Q000379:methods*; D008560:Membrane Fluidity / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects; D008564:Membrane Potentials / Q000502:physiology* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D008954:Models, Biological; D011829:Radiation Dosage