Investigation of Effect of Nanosecond Pulsed Electric Field on MCF-7 Breast Cancer Cells

Abstract

Pulsed electric field therapy is a novel non-invasive approach for cancer therapy. It serves as a cell permeability enhancing agent for cancer treatment. Nanosecond, high-electrical field pulse power technology is used for delivering variable, controllable, intracellular electrical perturbations in several biological systems. Here, we investigated the effect of nanosecond (ns) electric pulse (nsEP) as a therapeutic tool for cancer. In in-vitro study, the breast cancer cells (MCF-7) were exposed with electric field of ~18kV/cm intensity, ~25ns duration, at 1.5Hz in a 2mm electroporation cuvette. Post exposure, observation shows a significant reduction in cell viability. It was evident that after treatment the viability of MCF-7 cancer cells at 630 pulses are remains ~38% only. The optical microscopic analysis of MCF-7 cells shows cell morphology changes after electrical pulse exposure. Moreover, we have also investigated a comparative study of the effect nano-second electrical pulses on MCF-7 cells and Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cell line. The comparative study, demonstrated that the effect of nsEPF on MCF-7 is more destructive than on CHO cell line. The obtained results support that the pulse electrical field of nanosecond (ns) duration therapy would be a potential solution for cancer treatment. Keywords: Nanosecond Pulse Electric Field; Full Width at Half Maxima; Pulse Forming Line; Pulse Exposure; Viability;