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SYMP: Symposium Plasma in Biology and Medicine

SYMP 1: Plasma in Biology and Medicine (SYMP)

SYMP 1.5: Hauptvortrag

Mittwoch, 10. März 2010, 16:30–17:00, A 001

Pulsed electric field degrades melanoma cells — •Uwe Pliquett¹ and Richard Nuchitelli² — ¹Institut für Bioprozess- und Analysenmesstechnik e.V., Heilbad Heiligenstadt, Germany — ²BioElectroMed Corp., 849 Mitten Rd., Suite 105, Burlingame, CA 94010, USA

Nanosecond pulsed electric fields (nsPEF) trigger apoptosis in skin tumors. The mechanism involves the physical formation of nanopores in the lipid membranes of organelles and does not involve hyperthermia. Both theoretical calculation and actual temperature measurement with miniature thermocouples confirms that nsPEF induces a temperature rise of only a few degrees K during treatment. The most obvious morphological changes following nsPEF application are the pyknosis of the nucleus and the breakdown of blood capillaries that begins within minutes after treatment. Fluorescent labelling with the reactive oxygen species (ROS) indicator, carboxy-H2DCFDA, indicated ROS appeared near the plasma membrane within minutes after nsPEF application. ROS enforce the actin polymerization in an uncontrolled manner. We suggest that membrane degradation may result in part from the dynamic instability of actin filaments.