Electroporation-Based Drug Delivery

Tailored treatment of various diseases, including cancer, needs a proper design of patient-specific drugs, often requiring delivery of RNA, DNA, protein, genes and various drugs into single live cells with high viability and transfection efficiency. Rapid developments in microfluidics over the years have enabled the invention of various methods for drug delivery into cells. One of the most popular engineered techniques for cellular delivery is electroporation. It works on the principle of the cell membrane becoming permeable in response to a specific electrical pulse due to the reorganization of the structures within the cell or tissue. This technique is advantageous over other physical and chemical methods due to its easy and quick operation, higher transformation efficiency, and controllable and high throughput delivery. Due to its versatility, it is possible to perform bulk electroporation (BEP), single-cell electroporation (SCEP) and localized single-cell electroporation (LSCEP). SCEP is capable of withstanding a heterogeneous electrical field centred on a single adherent or suspended cell without impacting any nearby cells. In contrast, bulk electroporation can deliver drugs in a homogeneous electric field. On the other hand, in LSCEP, organelles and internal biochemical effects enable it to assess cell-to-cell variance accurately. This chapter presents a detailed discussion of the mechanism and various electroporation techniques, including BEP, SCEP and LSCEP. Further, the chapter is concluded with the future aspects of the electroporation technique.