title: Nanosecond electric pulses penetrate the nucleus and enhance speckle formation.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Frank Reidy Research Center for Bioelectrics, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23510, USA. nc8u@virginia.edu
authors.forename: Nianyong
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Allen L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Garner
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jing
authors.forename: Yuping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.forename: R James
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Swanson
authors.forename: Juergen F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Kolb
authors.forename: Stephen J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Beebe
authors.forename: Ravindra P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Joshi
authors.forename: Karl H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Schoenbach
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies; D001324:Autoantigens; D017411:Ribonucleoproteins, Small Nuclear; D055517:snRNP Core Proteins