Plasma membrane depolarization and permeabilization due to electric pulses in cell lines of different excitability.

In electroporation-based medical treatments, excitable tissues are treated, either intentionally (irreversible electroporation of brain cancer, gene electrotransfer or ablation of the heart muscle, gene electrotransfer of skeletal muscles), or unintentionally (excitable tissues near the target area). We investigated how excitable and non-excitable cells respond to electric pulses, and if electroporation could be an effective treatment of the tumours of the central nervous system. For three non-excitable and one excitable cell line, we determined a strength-duration curve for a single pulse of 10ns-10ms.