20.500.12556/RUL-171185 Genetically engineered HEK cells as a valuable tool for studying electroporation in excitable cells Electric pulses used in electroporation-based treatments have been shown to affect the excitability of muscle and neuronal cells. However, understanding the interplay between electroporation and electrophysiological response of excitable cells is complex, since both ion channel gating and electroporation depend on dynamic changes in the transmembrane voltage (TMV). In this study, a genetically engineered human embryonic kidney cells expressing NaV1.5 and Kir2.1, a minimal complementary channels required for excitability (named S-HEK), was characterized as a simple cell model used for studying the effects of electroporation in excitable cells. S-HEK cells and their nonexcitable counterparts (NS-HEK) were exposed to 100 µs pulses of increasing electric field strength. Changes in TMV, plasma membrane permeability, and intracellular Ca2+ were monitored with fluorescence microscopy. We found that a very mild electroporation, undetectable with the classical propidium assay but associated with a transient increase in intracellular Ca2+, can already have a profound effect on excitability close to the electrostimulation threshold, as corroborated by multiscale computational modelling. These results are of great relevance for understanding the effects of pulse delivery on cell excitability observed in context of the rapidly developing cardiac pulsed field ablation as well as other electroporation-based treatments in excitable tissues. electroporation exitable cells action potential intacellular calcium elektroporacija vzdražne celice akcijski potencial znotrajcelični kalcij true false true Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik Članek v reviji 2025-08-18 13:36:13 2025-08-18 13:36:19 2025-08-19 04:11:36 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2024 0 0 18 str. 14, art. 720 2024 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno apc 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 602.621 2045-2322 10.1038/s41598-023-51073-5 180220419 s41598-023-51073-5.pdf s41598-023-51073-5.pdf 1 4C0E7178C9703B8DB08C387558C07DF5 c6e2c9becb5c50f6729ba1347bccd05ea0950d458ffd547fc1a5d1d98c833d11 c118a3d9-7c27-11f0-9328-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=214250 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-51073-5 1 783eacaf-7c27-11f0-9328-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=214248 Fakulteta za elektrotehniko 0 0 0