Cell membrane electropermeabilization by symmetrical bipolar rectangular pulses: Part II. Reduced electrolytic contamination

The paper presents a comparative study of the contamination of a cell suspension by ions released from aluminum cuvettes (Al3+) and stainless steel electrodes (Fe2+/Fe3+) during cell membrane electropermeabilization by unipolar and by symmetrical bipolar rectangular electric pulses. A single pulse and a train of eight pulses were delivered to electrodes at a 2-mm distance, with 100-μs and 1-ms pulse durations, and amplitudes ranging from 0 to 400 V for unipolar, and from 0 to 280 V for bipolar pulses. We found that the released concentrations of Al3+ and Fe2+/Fe3+ were always more than one order of magnitude lower with bipolar pulses than with unipolar pulses of the same amplitude and duration. We then investigated the viability of DC-3F cells after 1 h of incubation in the medium containing different concentrations of Al3+ or Fe2+/Fe3+ within the range of measured released concentrations (up to 2.5 mM for both ions), thus separating the effects of electrolytic contamination from the effects of electropermeabilization itself. For Fe2+/Fe3+, loss of cell viability became significant at concentrations above 1.5 mM, while for Al3+, no effect on cell survival was detected within the investigated range. Still, reports on the biochemical effects of released Al3+ also suggest that with aluminum cuvettes, electrolytic contamination can be detrimental. Our study shows that electrolytic contamination and its detrimental effects can be largely reduced with no loss in efficiency of electropermeabilization, if bipolar rectangular pulses of the same amplitude and duration are used instead of the commonly applied unipolar pulses.