Chapter 2
Soft Electroporation Through 3D Hollow Nanoelectrodes
Jun Yin and Yang Li
Abstract
Generally, electroporation of in vitro cells is performed under very high electric fields to overcome the
physical barrier of plasma membrane. Since traditional electroporation techniques make use of very high
voltages, which is critical to cell viability, this study presents a microfluidic platform able to perform cell
membrane electroporation with the application of low voltages (1.5–2 V). The platform is manufactured
based on the milling by mean of focused ionic beam, which offers an established approach to fabricate
ordered arrays of 3D gold hollow nanoelectrodes protruding from an insulating substrate. The novelty of
this fabrication relies on the fact that the nanoelectrodes used for electroporation are simultaneously
metallic, hollow and communicate through its nanochannels with an isolated microfluidic chamber beneath
the device. Adherent cultured cells on the nanoelectrodes can be electroporated in this platform, and
molecules can be selectively delivered only inside the porated cells.
Key words Electroporation, 3D hollow nanoelectrodes, Focused ionic beam milling, Nanofabrication, Passivation
1 Introduction
Electroporation of in vitro-cultured cells has been widely used in
biological and medical areas to deliver exogenous materials into
cells [1, 2]. Technically, an electrical field is applied to increase the
permeability of the cell membrane during electroporation; which is
a reliable microbiology technique allowing chemicals, drugs, or
DNA to be introduced into the cell [3]. Among different poration
techniques (e.g., laser irradiation and sonoporation), electroporation is a more viable approach in both in vitro and in vivo applications due to its less induced cell membrane damage and higher
delivery efficiency [4]. It is believed that the optimization of the
local electric field is of great importance to balance the transfection
efficiency and cell viability [5], thus the advanced manufacturing of
electrodes needs to be carefully investigated for the development of
electroporation devices [6].
Shulin Li et al. (eds.), Electroporation Protocols: Microorganism, Mammalian System, and Nanodevice,
Methods in Molecular Biology, vol. 2050, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-9740-4_2,
© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
13
Soft Electroporation Through 3D Hollow Nanoelectrodes
Jun Yin and Yang Li
Abstract
Generally, electroporation of in vitro cells is performed under very high electric fields to overcome the
physical barrier of plasma membrane. Since traditional electroporation techniques make use of very high
voltages, which is critical to cell viability, this study presents a microfluidic platform able to perform cell
membrane electroporation with the application of low voltages (1.5–2 V). The platform is manufactured
based on the milling by mean of focused ionic beam, which offers an established approach to fabricate
ordered arrays of 3D gold hollow nanoelectrodes protruding from an insulating substrate. The novelty of
this fabrication relies on the fact that the nanoelectrodes used for electroporation are simultaneously
metallic, hollow and communicate through its nanochannels with an isolated microfluidic chamber beneath
the device. Adherent cultured cells on the nanoelectrodes can be electroporated in this platform, and
molecules can be selectively delivered only inside the porated cells.
Key words Electroporation, 3D hollow nanoelectrodes, Focused ionic beam milling, Nanofabrication, Passivation
1 Introduction
Electroporation of in vitro-cultured cells has been widely used in
biological and medical areas to deliver exogenous materials into
cells [1, 2]. Technically, an electrical field is applied to increase the
permeability of the cell membrane during electroporation; which is
a reliable microbiology technique allowing chemicals, drugs, or
DNA to be introduced into the cell [3]. Among different poration
techniques (e.g., laser irradiation and sonoporation), electroporation is a more viable approach in both in vitro and in vivo applications due to its less induced cell membrane damage and higher
delivery efficiency [4]. It is believed that the optimization of the
local electric field is of great importance to balance the transfection
efficiency and cell viability [5], thus the advanced manufacturing of
electrodes needs to be carefully investigated for the development of
electroporation devices [6].
Shulin Li et al. (eds.), Electroporation Protocols: Microorganism, Mammalian System, and Nanodevice,
Methods in Molecular Biology, vol. 2050, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-9740-4_2,
© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
13