Stochastic electrotransport selectively enhances the transport of highly electromobile molecules

• Main Authors: Keller, Philipp J. (Author), Kim, Sung-Yon (Contributor), Cho, Jae Hun (Contributor), Murray, Evan (Contributor), Bakh, Naveed Ali (Contributor), Choi, Heejin (Contributor), Ohn, Kimberly (Contributor), Ruelas, Luzdary T. (Contributor), Hubbert, Austin W. (Contributor), McCue, Margaret Grace (Contributor), Ling, Sara Lynn (Contributor), Chung, Kwanghun (Contributor)
• Other Authors: Institute for Medical Engineering and Science (Contributor), Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences (Contributor), Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemical Engineering (Contributor), Picower Institute for Learning and Memory (Contributor)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: National Academy of Sciences (U.S.), 2017-05-05T19:06:28Z.
• Subjects: Article
• Online Access: Get fulltext

Nondestructive chemical processing of porous samples such as fixed biological tissues typically relies on molecular diffusion. Diffusion into a porous structure is a slow process that significantly delays completion of chemical processing. Here, we present a novel electrokinetic method termed stochastic electrotransport for rapid nondestructive processing of porous samples. This method uses a rotational electric field to selectively disperse highly electromobile molecules throughout a porous sample without displacing the low-electromobility molecules that constitute the sample. Using computational models, we show that stochastic electrotransport can rapidly disperse electromobile molecules in a porous medium. We apply this method to completely clear mouse organs within 1-3 days and to stain them with nuclear dyes, proteins, and antibodies within 1 day. Our results demonstrate the potential of stochastic electrotransport to process large and dense tissue samples that were previously infeasible in time when relying on diffusion.
Simons Foundation. Postdoctoral Fellowship
Life Sciences Research Foundation
Burroughs Wellcome Fund (Career Awards at the Scientific Interface)
Searle Scholars Program
Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research
United States. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
JPB Foundation
National Institutes of Health (U.S.)
National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant 1-U01-NS090473-01)