Dielectrophoretic manipulation of rod-shaped viral particles

The dielectrophoretic manipulation of a rod-shaped virus, tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) by means of non-uniform AC electric fields is described. An expression is derived for the dielectrophoretic force on a homogeneous dielectric cylinder suspended in a liquid medium which shows that the dielectrophoretic force varies over a wide range of frequencies and medium conductivities. Measurements of the dielectrophoretic behaviour of TMV particles in microelectrode arrays have been made as a function of frequency and applied field strength. The results are shown to be in quantitative agreement with the derived expression for the dielectrophoretic force. By measuring the threshold field strength for the onset of dielectrophoresis, the force on a single TMV particle has been estimated. The results point to the potential use of dielectrophoresis for the collection and manipulation of sub-micron particles using microelectrode arrays.

[1]  Y. Huang,et al.  Electrode design for negative dielectrophoresis , 1991 .

[2]  M. Mandel,et al.  Electric permittivity of alfalfa mosaic virus in aqueous solutions , 1973, Biopolymers.

[3]  R. Pethig,et al.  Dielectrophoretic behaviour of Micrococcus lysodeikticus and its protoplast , 1988 .

[4]  Masao Washizu,et al.  Molecular dielectrophoresis of bio-polymers , 1992, Conference Record of the 1992 IEEE Industry Applications Society Annual Meeting.

[5]  Ronald Pethig,et al.  Selective dielectrophoretic confinement of bioparticles in potential energy wells , 1993 .

[6]  Torsten Müller,et al.  High frequency electric fields for trapping of viruses , 1996 .

[7]  Hywel Morgan,et al.  Large area multilayered electrode arrays for dielectrophoretic fractionation , 1997 .

[8]  H Morgan,et al.  Manipulation and trapping of sub-micron bioparticles using dielectrophoresis. , 1997, Journal of biochemical and biophysical methods.

[9]  M. A. Lauffer.  The Electro-optical Effect in Certain Viruses , 1939 .

[10]  A. Hippel,et al.  Dielectrics and Waves , 1966 .

[11]  H. A. Pohl.  The Motion and Precipitation of Suspensoids in Divergent Electric Fields , 1951 .

[12]  T. Jones,et al.  Electro-orientation of ellipsoidal erythrocytes. Theory and experiment. , 1993, Biophysical journal.

[13]  Makoto Sugai,et al.  Electrorotation of non-spherical cells: Theory for ellipsoidal cells with an arbitrary number of shells , 1993 .

[14]  Thomas B. Jones,et al.  Dielectrophoretic force calculation , 1979 .

[15]  R. Pethig.  Application of A.C. electrical fields to the manipulation and characterisation of cells , 1991 .

[16]  H. A. Pohl.  Nonuniform Field Effects in Poorly Conducting Media , 1960 .

[17]  F F Becker,et al.  Separation of human breast cancer cells from blood by differential dielectric affinity. , 1995, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[18]  Giovanni De Gasperis,et al.  Trapping of micrometre and sub-micrometre particles by high-frequency electric fields and hydrodynamic forces , 1996 .

[19]  B. Zimm,et al.  New method for studying electrical orientation and relaxation effects in aqueous colloids; preliminary results with tobacco mosaic virus. , 1950, Science.