Electroporation: a novel approach to enhance the radioiodine uptake in a human thyroid cancer cell line

Radioiodine has been the best choice of treatment for differentiated thyroid cancer. Loss of the ability to concentrate iodide makes thyroid cancer cells refractory to radioiodine therapy. Therefore, the methods that enhance the uptake of radioiodine may have significant therapeutic effect. Electroporation involves the application of short high-voltage electric pulses which transiently permeabilize the plasma membrane, allowing entry of the otherwise impermeable molecules. The aim of our study was to use electroporation for incorporating radioiodine into a non-iodine concentrating thyroid cell line. Cultured WRO thyroid cancer cells that do not incorporate iodine due to the lack of the specific transporter protein incorporated significant amounts of radioiodine after electroporation. The uptake of radioiodine by electroporation showed dependence on the electric field, external concentration of the iodine, time and the temperature of incubation. The incorporated radioiodine was retained over a period of 24 h. The retainability of the incorporated iodine may have a significant effect on the tumoricidal properties if validated in vivo.