A coupled model of electroporation and electrodeformation considering dynamic Young's modulus

Abstract

Cells exposed to a pulsed electric field undergo electrodeformation (ED) and electroporation (EP) under the action of electric field stress, and this paper proposes a coupled model of EP and ED that considers the change in Young's modulus. The model considers the cytoplasmic membrane as a porous viscoelastic material and decreases in Young's modulus due to many pores generated on the plasma membrane after EP onset is further included. The results show that the degree of ED in this model is significantly larger than in previous models. This is mainly due to the generation of a large number of pores in the cell membrane, which increases the membrane porosity and causes significant decreases in Young's modulus, leading to the weakened ability of the cell to resist ED. The degree of cell EP and ED can be mitigated by increasing the pulse delay between H-FIRE pulses based on this model, which is consistent with previous studies. Our model can more accurately reflect the cell ED process by considering the decreases in Young's modulus of the cell membrane during EP. It can also provide theoretical guidance for biochemical experiments using H-FIRE pulses.