Electric Field Pulses Can Induce Apoptosis (original) (raw)

Abstract.

Injection of electric field pulses of high intensity (kV/cm) and short duration (microsecond range) into a cell suspension results in a temporary increase of the membrane permeability due to a reversible electric breakdown of the cell membrane. Here we demonstrate that application of supercritical field pulses between 4.5 and 8.1 kV/cm strength and 40 μsec duration induce typical features of apoptosis in Jurkat T-lymphoblasts and in HL-60 cells including DNA fragmentation and cleavage of the poly(ADP ribose) polymerase. Apoptosis induction did not depend on the presence of any particular electrolyte in the extracellular medium. However, no apoptosis was observed in solutions without a minimum amount of salt. Apoptotic DNA fragmentation was prevented by the caspase inhibitor zVAD.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lehrstuhl für Biotechnologie, Biozentrum, D-97074 Würzburg, Germany, , , , , , DE
    F. Hofmann & U. Zimmermann
  2. Institute for Virology and Immunobiology, Julius-Maximilians University, D-97074 Würzburg, Germany, , , , , , DE
    H. Ohnimus, C. Scheller, W. Strupp & C. Jassoy

Authors

  1. F. Hofmann
  2. H. Ohnimus
  3. C. Scheller
  4. W. Strupp
  5. U. Zimmermann
  6. C. Jassoy

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Received: 16 December 1998/Revised: 24 February 1999

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Hofmann, F., Ohnimus, H., Scheller, C. et al. Electric Field Pulses Can Induce Apoptosis.J. Membrane Biol. 169, 103–109 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/s002329900522

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