Nanosecond electric pulses penetrate the nucleus and enhance speckle formation.
Nanosecond electric pulses generate nanopores in the interior membranes of cells and modulate cellular functions. Here, we used confocal microscopy and flow cytometry to observe Smith antigen antibody (Y12) binding to nuclear speckles, known as small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particles (snRNPs) or intrachromatin granule clusters (IGCs), in Jurkat cells following one or five 10ns, 150kV/cm pulses. Using confocal microscopy and flow cytometry, we observed changes in nuclear speckle labeling that suggested a disruption of pre-messenger RNA splicing mechanisms. Pulse exposure increased the nuclear speckled substructures by approximately 2.5-fold above basal levels while the propidium iodide (PI) uptake in pulsed cells was unchanged. The resulting nuclear speckle changes were also cell cycle dependent. These findings suggest that 10ns pulses directly influenced nuclear processes, such as the changes in the nuclear RNA-protein complexes.
Chen
Nianyong
N
Frank Reidy Research Center for Bioelectrics, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23510, USA. nc8u@virginia.edu
Garner
Allen L
AL
Chen
George
G
Jing
Yu
Y
Deng
Yuping
Y
Swanson
R James
RJ
Kolb
Juergen F
JF
Beebe
Stephen J
SJ
Joshi
Ravindra P
RP
Schoenbach
Karl H
KH
D000906:Antibodies / Q000378:metabolism; D001324:Autoantigens / Q000276:immunology; D002453:Cell Cycle; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D022003:Cell Nucleus Structures / Q000378:metabolism*; D004574:Electromagnetic Fields; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D019169:Jurkat Cells; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D015530:Nuclear Matrix / Q000378:metabolism; D011485:Protein Binding; D012326:RNA Splicing; D017411:Ribonucleoproteins, Small Nuclear / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D055517:snRNP Core Proteins
D000906:Antibodies; D001324:Autoantigens; D017411:Ribonucleoproteins, Small Nuclear; D055517:snRNP Core Proteins