Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 4, 2026

Porous Substrate-Based Electroporation with Transepithelial Electrical Impedance Monitoring
Published on: September 27, 2024
Role of weakly polarized nanoparticles in electroporation
1School of Chemical & Biological Engineering, Seoul National University, 599 Gwanangno, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, 151-742, Republic of Korea.
Abstract:
In this study, we present a role for weakly polarized nanoparticles as engineered gene transporters that can enhance electromediated gene delivery. To validate this proof-of-concept, fluorescent poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-coated silica nanoparticles (SiNPs) with opposite polarities, SiNPs(RITC)-PEG/PTMA(+) and SiNPs(RITC)-PEG/PMP(-), are used. To investigate the electroporative uptake direction of the nanoparticles-gene complex, we employ microscale electroporation to generate more symmetric and uniform electric fields. The effect of the polarity of the nanoparticles on EGFP gene transfection efficiency in HeLa cells is measured by flow cytometry analysis. The results show that, compared to cationic nanoparticles, anionic nanoparticles have potential as electromediated gene transporters at a low gene concentration. Furthermore, we believe that this finding can be useful for developing a platform that enables electroporation-based gene/drug delivery associated with functional nanoparticles.
Related Concept Videos
Theory of Strong Electrolytes
Electrolyte and Nonelectrolyte Solutions
Electrophoresis: Overview
There...
Pore Transport and Ion-Pair Transport
Pore transport, also known as convective transport, is a process where small molecules like urea, water, and sugars rapidly cross cell membranes as though there were channels or pores in the membrane. Although direct microscopic evidence is limited but the concept of pores or channels is widely accepted based on physiological evidence. Despite the lack of direct microscopic...
Induced Electric Dipoles
Since the absolute value of potential energy holds no physical meaning, its zero value can be chosen as per...

