Laboratoire de Génie Chimique, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, INPT, UPS, Toulouse, France.
Laboratoire de Génie Chimique, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, INPT, UPS, Toulouse, France.
Bioelectrochemistry. 2021 Jun;139:107737. doi: 10.1016/j.bioelechem.2020.107737. Epub 2021 Jan 4.
Endogenous electric fields drive many essential functions relating to cell proliferation, motion, differentiation and tissue development. They are usually mimicked in vitro by using electrochemical systems to apply direct current or voltage stimuli to cell cultures. The many studies devoted to this topic have given rise to a wide variety of experimental systems, whose results are often difficult to compare. Here, these systems are analysed from an electrochemical standpoint to help harmonize protocols and facilitate optimal understanding of the data produced. The theoretical analysis of single-electrode systems shows the necessity of measuring the Nernst potential of the electrode and of discussing the results on this basis rather than using the value of the potential gradient. The paper then emphasizes the great complexity that can arise when high cell voltage is applied to a single electrode, because of the possible occurrence of anode and cathode sites. An analysis of two-electrode systems leads to the advice to change experimental practices by applying current instead of voltage. It also suggests that the values of electric fields reported so far may have been considerably overestimated in macro-sized devices. It would consequently be wise to revisit this area by testing considerably lower electric field values.
内源性电场驱动着许多与细胞增殖、运动、分化和组织发育相关的基本功能。通常，通过电化学系统向细胞培养物施加直流或电压刺激来模拟这些电场。许多致力于这一主题的研究已经产生了各种各样的实验系统，其结果往往难以比较。在这里，从电化学的角度分析这些系统有助于协调方案并促进对所产生数据的最佳理解。单电极系统的理论分析表明，有必要测量电极的能斯特电势，并在此基础上讨论结果，而不是使用电势梯度的值。然后，本文强调了当高细胞电压施加到单个电极时可能出现的阳极和阴极部位所带来的巨大复杂性。对双电极系统的分析建议通过施加电流而不是电压来改变实验实践。它还表明，迄今为止报道的电场值在宏观器件中可能被大大高估。因此，通过测试低得多的电场值来重新研究这一领域是明智的。
