Nanosecond Pulsed Electric Field (nsPEF): Opening the Biotechnological Pandora's Box

Nanosecond Pulsed Electric Field (nsPEF) is an electrostimulation technique first developed in 1995; nsPEF requires the delivery of a series of pulses of high electric fields in the order of nanoseconds into biological tissues or cells. They primary effects in cells is the formation of membrane nanopores and the activation of ionic channels, leading to an incremental increase in cytoplasmic Ca2+ concentration, which triggers a signaling cascade producing a variety of effects: from apoptosis up to cell differentiation and proliferation. Further, nsPEF may affect organelles, making nsPEF a unique tool to manipulate and study cells. This technique is exploited in a broad spectrum of applications, such as: sterilization in the food industry, seed germination, anti-parasitic effects, wound healing, increased immune response, activation of neurons and myocites, cell proliferation, cellular phenotype manipulation, modulation of gene expression, and as a novel cancer treatment. This review thoroughly explores both nsPEF's history and applications, with emphasis on the cellular effects from a biophysics perspective, highlighting the role of ionic channels as a mechanistic driver of the increase in cytoplasmic Ca2+ concentration.