Ultrashort pulse electroporation: applications of high pulsed electric fields to induced caspase activation of human lymphocytes

Abstract

Presents evidence for apoptosis, or programmed cell death, and up-regulation of a subset of important genes induced by intense electric fields of short duration (10's nsec). The fields are observed to perturb mitochondrial membranes and the compartmentalized intracellular environment of Jurkat T lymphocytes, and within hours caspase activation occurs. Intense, but low energy, fields can penetrate a biological cell and invoke mechanisms associated with apoptosis.