The Frequency Dependent Response of Sinewave Electropermeabilization

The permeabilization of biological membranes by electric fields, known as electroporation and electropermeabilization, has been traditionally performed using square electric pulses. These signals distribute the energy in a wide frequency band. In this paper, authors investigate the use of sine waves, which are narrow band signals, to provoke electropermeabilization and the frequency dependence of this phenomenon. Single bursts of sine waves at different frequencies in the range from 8 kHz-130 kHz were applied to DC-3F cells. Electroporation was studied in the plasma membrane and the internal organelles membrane using calcium as a permeabilization marker. Additionally, a double-shell electrical model was simulated to give a theoretical framework to our results.