Caspase dependent apoptosis induced in yeast cells by nanosecond pulsed electric fields

Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast cells were used as a model organism to investigate the effects of various pulsed electric fields on the programed death of such cells. These were exposed to electric field pulses with field strengths (E) of up to 220 kV/cm. The effects of square shaped pulses having different durations (τ = 10-90 ns) and different pulse numbers (pn = 1-5) were then analysed. The obtained results show that nanosecond pulses can induce the death of such cells, which in turn is dependent on the electric field pulse parameters and increase with the rise in E, τ and pn. The decrease of the cells' viability was accompanied by an increase in the active form of intracellular yeast metacaspases. It was thus shown that nanosecond electric field pulses induced the caspase-dependent yeast cell death.