Regulating the Membrane Transport Activity and Death of Cells via Electroosmotic Manipulation.

ABSTRACT: Although the volume of living cells has been known to heavily influence their behavior and fate, a method allowing us to control the cell size in a programmable manner is still lacking. Here, we develop a technique in which precise changes in the cellular volume can be conveniently introduced by varying the voltage applied across a Nafion membrane that separates the culture medium from a reservoir. It is found that, unlike sudden osmotic shocks, active ion transport across the membrane of leukemia K562 cells will not be triggered by a gradual change in the extracellular osmolarity. Furthermore, when subjected to the same applied voltage, different lung and nasopharyngeal epithelial cancer cells will undergo larger volumetric changes and have a 5-10% higher death rate compared to their norm

SUBMITTER: Hui TH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4919594 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature