Electroporation of adherent cells in situ

A simple, rapid, and reproducible procedure for the introduction of macromolecules into adherent mammalian cells by electroporation is described. Cells were growing on a glass surface coated with electrically conductive, optically transparent indium-tin oxide at the time of pulse delivery. Several factors affected the optimal voltage for permeation of a given line including the metabolic state of the cells and their degree of spreading onto the conductive growth surface. Careful control of the electric field strength resulted in almost 100% of the cells containing introduced antibodies without any detectable change in the length of their division cycle. Higher voltages were required for the stable expression of DNA than for the introduction of antibodies, resulting in a significant rate of cell death.