College of Engineering
Cancer Cell Nanoparticle Electroporation Treatment
Mega n K. Levis SCHOOL OF BIOMED. Biomedical Engineering Dr . G ar y F riedma n Faculty Mentor Electrical & Computer Engineering
Poster Session A
The ultimate goal of this project is to study the effects of highly localized electric field on cells. There are several effects of electric fields on cells that have been discovered thus far, the most prominent of which is called electroporation, a phenomenon through which cellular membranes can be transiently modified. Electroporation is often employed for the purposes of genetic transfection and for induction of apoptosis (programmed cell death). In all of its previous applications, electroporation is achieved on macroscopic scale involving a large number of cells. Conversely, the goal of this project is to understand how electroporation can be observed on the unicellular level. The majority of this project involved testing the effects of nanoparticle enhanced electroporation. This process involved the use of elongated conducting nanoparticles whose surfaces could be specifically modified to attach to target cells in tissues (e.g. cancer cells). Electric field around the tips of such nanoparticles could be dramatically enhanced permitting to electroporate only the targeted cells, while leaving other cells unaffected. Such treatment coupled with chemotherapy is theorized to be a promising treatment for ovarian cancer. Through the electroporation of cells surrounded in nanoparticles, the effects of this proposed treatment is simulated and observed.
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