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Updated: Jul 11, 2026
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The Fabrication and Operation of a Continuous Flow, Micro-Electroporation System with Permeabilization Detection
Published on: January 7, 2022
Continuous low-voltage dc electroporation on a microfluidic chip with polyelectrolytic salt bridges
Sang Kyung Kim1, Jae Hyun Kim, Kwang Pyo Kim
1Nanobio Research Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul 130-650, Korea.
Analytical Chemistry
|September 19, 2007
Summary
This study introduces a microfluidic electroporation chip using polyelectrolytic gel electrodes for efficient cell electropermeation. It achieves high transfection rates in leukemia cells with low voltage and high viability.
Area of Science:
- Biotechnology
- Microfluidics
- Cell Biology
Background:
- Electroporation is a key technique for cell membrane permeabilization.
- Conventional electroporation methods often face challenges like bubble generation and precise electric field control.
- Microfluidic devices offer potential for enhanced control and efficiency in cell manipulation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and characterize a novel microfluidic electroporation chip.
- To investigate the use of polyelectrolytic gel electrodes for controlled electric field application.
- To assess the efficiency and viability of cell electropermeation and transfection using the developed device.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of a microfluidic chip utilizing polyelectrolytic gel (pDADMAC) electrodes.
- Impedance analysis to determine the conductivity of pDADMAC plugs.
- Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD-ACE) for electric field simulation.
- Electroporation experiments on K562 human chronic leukemia cells.
- DNA plasmid transfection and expression analysis.
Main Results:
- pDADMAC plugs demonstrated ionic conductivity of approximately 16 S m(-1).
- A low input voltage of 10 V generated a sufficient electric field (0.9 kV cm(-1)) for electropermeation.
- Observed electropermeation from 7 V, reaching 60% efficiency at 15 V with 80% cell viability.
- Achieved transfection of 10^5 cells per minute with successful DNA plasmid expression.
Conclusions:
- The microfluidic electroporation chip effectively utilizes polyelectrolytic gel electrodes for controlled cell electropermeation.
- The device enables high-efficiency, high-viability cell transfection at low continuous DC voltages.
- This technology presents a promising platform for high-throughput cell transfection in suspension cell lines.
