Selective Electroporation of Organelles Under an Intense Picosecond Pulsed Electric Field

A high-intensity electric pulse with subnanosecond and picosecond durations may induce electroporation of an intracellular organelle while the integrity of plasma membrane in a biological cell remains intact. In this paper, selective electroporation of organelles under intense picosecond electric pulse (psEP) is theoretically studied. We construct a simplified axisymmetric model of a biological cell containing two organelles of different sizes and investigate the electroporation processes of the cell with a finite element method. The induced transmembrane voltage (TMV) and pore formation dynamics on the biological cell membrane are comparatively analyzed when the cell is exposed to sufficiently intense electric pulses of nanosecond and picosecond durations, respectively. From our results, selective electroporation of organelles can be clearly observed when the cell is affected by an intense psEP. In contrast, the electric pulse of a few hundred nanosecond duration can electroporate the plasma membrane of biological cell much before organelle membranes regardless of the magnitude of the pulse. By regulating the intensity of electric pulse with two different durations, effective pulse parameters can be obtained to realize selective electroporation of intracellular organelles or plasma membrane. Our study demonstrates the selective electroporation of organelles of intense psEP and may provide guidance for further development in experimental and theoretical research. Furthermore, the applicability of the quasi-static model used to calculate the TMV under the stimulation of a few hundred psEP is first illustrated in this paper.