Bidirectional Modulation\non Electroporation Induced\nby Membrane Tension Under the Electric Field

Electroporation ablation\nis a minimally invasive nonthermal\nablation\ntechnology that is applied to tumor ablation therapy. Given the varied\nmorphologies of tumor cells, when an electric field is applied to\nthe cell membrane surface, the direction of the electric field produces\nvarious angles with normal to the tangential plane of the cell membrane.\nIn this study, we investigated the impact of cell morphology on membrane\nelectroporation characteristics by adjusting the angle of the electric\nfield relative to the cell membrane by using molecular dynamics simulations.\nThe results show that the bidirectional modulation of cell membrane\nsurface tension induced by Coulomb force can be triggered, allowing\nthe electroporation effect to be regulated, by varying the angle between\nthe electric field direction and the normal to the membrane. Electric\nfield angles below 45° decreased phospholipid membrane surface\ntension, facilitating pore formation; angles above 45° enhanced\nthe surface tension, elevating the energy barrier for pore opening\nand thus inhibiting pore formation. Furthermore, during the initial\nstage of membrane pore formation, water molecules penetrated the lipids,\nwhich aligned with the electric field and affected the pore tilt.\nThe bidirectional modulation of the electric field in electroporation\ndemonstrated that reversing the angle of the electric field is a potentially\neffective electroporation ablation protocol for improving the effectiveness\nof clinical cancer treatments.