Modulation of Contactless High Intensity Pulsed Electromagnetic Field Induced Electroporation and Gene Delivery...

Area of Science:

• Biophysics
• Nanotechnology
• Cell Biology

Background:

• High-intensity pulsed electromagnetic fields (HI-PEMF) offer contactless cell membrane permeabilization, an alternative to electroporation (EP).
• Current HI-PEMF methods show lower efficiency in permeabilization and gene delivery compared to EP.
• Conductive nanoparticles, such as gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), may enhance HI-PEMF by amplifying the electric field near cell membranes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of various nanoparticles (NPs) on HI-PEMF-induced cell membrane permeabilization and gene delivery.
• To evaluate how NP properties (material, size, shape, concentration, functionalization) influence HI-PEMF efficacy.
• To compare the susceptibility of different cell lines to HI-PEMF and NP combined treatments.

Main Methods:

• Studied NPs including gold and silica, with sizes ranging from 10-50+ nm, and shapes like round and rods.
• Tested NP concentrations from 50-200 µg/mL, with and without pegylation.
• Applied HI-PEMF (6.7 T × 100 pulses, 1 Hz) to Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) and T24 transitional carcinoma cells.
• Assessed membrane permeabilization using propidium iodide (PI) and gene delivery efficiency via pEGFP-N1.

Main Results:

• Larger NPs and higher concentrations increased membrane permeability by up to 10%.
• Specific NP shapes (semispherical, rod-shaped AuNPs) did not significantly improve permeabilization.
• Gene delivery efficiency increased from 3% to 6% with 50 nm AuNPs.
• CHO cells demonstrated higher susceptibility to HI-PEMF effects than T24 cells.

Conclusions:

• Combining HI-PEMF with conductive NPs shows potential for enhancing gene delivery efficiency.
• HI-PEMF effectiveness is highly dependent on the specific cell line, NP type, and concentration.
• Further research is necessary to optimize NP-assisted HI-PEMF for improved cellular manipulation.