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Electroporation as a strategy to improve the efficacy of chemotherapy in neuroblastoma: an in vitro study Cover

Electroporation as a strategy to improve the efficacy of chemotherapy in neuroblastoma: an in vitro study

Radiology and Oncology
Volume 60 (2026): Issue 2 (June 2026)
By: ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,   and    
Open Access
|Jun 2026
Figures & tables

Figures & Tables

FIGURE 1.

Overview of the study design. Electroporation was modelled using the Neon Transfection system (left). Cell suspensions were electroporated in the presence of cisplatin and olaparib treatment. The mechanism of electrochemotherapy (centre): electroporation increases intracellular cisplatin levels by reversibly permeabilising the cell plasma membrane. Following treatment, cells were assayed using flow cytometry and immunofluorescence microscopy (right). Figure was created in BioRender (www.biorender.com).

FIGURE 2.

Electroporation (EP) increases neuroblastoma cell permeability. (A) Across three neuroblastoma cell lines (KELLY, LAN-1 and SK-N-BE) electroporation at increasing electric field strengths (0 - 0.93 kV/cm) increased cell death at immediate (4 hour, blue) and 24-hour (red) timepoints. (B) Increasing electric field strengths (0 - 0.93 kV/cm) increased cell permeability to propidium iodide (PI). (C) Representative images of LAN-1 cells in suspension before and after electroporation (0.93 kV/cm) showing blebs forming on the cell membrane (black arrows). Data are presented as mean ± standard deviation. Scale bars 500 μm.

FIGURE 3.

(A) Electroporation (EP, 0.74 kV/cm) with cisplatin (10 μM) increases intracellular platinum content (μg/g) versus treatment with cisplatin alone in KELLY and LAN-1 cells. Untreated cells received no cisplatin. (B) Electroporation (0.74 kV/cm) with a fluorescent-labelled olaparib (5 μM) compared to treatment with the fluorescent-labelled olaparib alone significantly increases fluorescence intensity per live cell in KELLY, LAN-1 and SK-N-BE cells. Data are presented as mean ± standard deviation. Statistical comparison by one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s post-hoc test. * p <0.05; ** p <0.01; *** p <0.001.

FIGURE 4.

Electroporation (EP, 0.74 kV/cm) with cisplatin is significantly more effective than cisplatin alone at killing neuroblastoma cell lines (KELLY, LAN-1 and SK-N-BE). The addition of olaparib increases toxicity. Data are presented as mean ± standard deviation. Statistical comparison by one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s post-hoc test. *p <0.05; **p <0.01; *** p <0.001; **** p <0.0001.

FIGURE 5.

(A) Representative γ-H2AX foci staining 48 hours following treatment with electroporation (EP, 0.74 kV/cm) and cisplatin (10 μM) with and without olaparib (5 μM) in KELLY cells. (B) Olaparib significantly increases the number of γ-H2AX foci per nucleus. Data are presented as mean ± standard deviation. Statistical comparison by one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s post-hoc test. *p <0.05; **p <0.01; *** p <0.001; **** p <0.0001
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/raon-2026-0028 | Journal eISSN: 1581-3207 | Journal ISSN: 1318-2099
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Language: English
Page range: 244 - 252
Submitted on: Mar 2, 2026
Accepted on: Apr 17, 2026
Published on: Jun 26, 2026
Published by: Association of Radiology and Oncology
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Keywords:
paediatrics,
oncology,
electroporation,
cisplatin,
neuroblastoma,
poly-(ADP ribose) polymerase 1
Related subjects:
Medicine,
Clinical medicine,
Radiology

© 2026 Jonathan J Neville, Laura Privitera, Jingchen Sun, Renata Da Costa Magueta, Piotr Golda, Adam C Sedgwick, Paolo De Coppi, Ismael Diez Perez, Premal A Patel, John Anderson, Stefano Giuliani, published by Association of Radiology and Oncology
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Volume 60 (2026): Issue 2 (June 2026)
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