Autofluorescence lifetime microscopy in normal and cancer cells and nanosecond pulsed electric field effects

Electric field effects on dynamics and function of biological systems depend on the cell membrane capacitance and on the pulse duration of the applied electric field, which enables selective application of pulsed electric field in specific organelles and specific living cells. If electric field whose pulse width is shorter than the charging time of the outer membrane is applied to living systems, the pulsed electric field may penetrate into the cell and induce changes in intracellular function. In fact, we reported the apoptosis induced by application of nanosecond pulsed electric field (nsPEF) with a pulse width of 10–50 ns in HeLa cells.1Published versio