Marie-Pierre Rols
Director of Research - CNRS
Holding a PhD from Paul Sabatier University in Toulouse, Marie-Pierre Rols is a Research Director at CNRS and leads the Cellular Biophysics team at IPBS-CNRS. Her research focuses on cell permeabilization using pulsed electric fields, a method known as electroporation, which enables the targeted delivery of molecules into cells and tissues.
For many years, she has developed a multidisciplinary approach that combines various imaging techniques to visualize and characterize these phenomena at the molecular level using models of increasing complexity, including giant vesicles, cultured cells, and organoids.
She has extensive expertise in the electrotransfer of cytotoxic drugs and nucleic acids, and has contributed to the development of biomedical applications of electroporation for cancer treatment and gene therapy (electrochemotherapy), including melanoma in humans and sarcoid tumors in horses.
Presentation
Electroporation: An innovative physical method for molecule delivery
Electroporation is a physical method of cell permeabilization that relies on the local application of electric pulses via electrodes. It enables the efficient transfer of molecules of interest into cells and tissues by disrupting the barrier function of their membranes. This permeabilization can be either reversible or irreversible.
Electroporation is being developed in clinical settings, particularly for the treatment of cancerous tumors. In this context, the method—known as antitumor electrochemotherapy—enhances the cytotoxic effect of drugs within cells, leading to their death. Another approach involves inducing cell death directly through irreversible permeabilization.
To use this technique safely, effectively, and rationally, it is necessary to elucidate the mechanisms underlying these phenomena and, based on this understanding, adjust the electrical parameters for optimal results.
In this presentation, I will describe the fundamental principles of electroporation and how the use of microscopy and biological study models of increasing complexity (lipid vesicles, 2D and 3D cell cultures, reconstructed skin) allows visualization of molecular entry into cells and optimization of various electrical parameters (electric field strength, number and duration of pulses, polarity, and frequency).
The Institute of Pharmacology and Structural Biology (IPBS) is a research unit of CNRS and Paul Sabatier University in Toulouse. IPBS hosts over 250 scientific and administrative staff members, including more than 60 PhD students and postdoctoral researchers from diverse nationalities, all working in a stimulating and highly collaborative environment.
IPBS currently comprises 18 research groups working in two major areas: tissue and cellular microenvironment biology, and the molecular and structural mechanisms of disease. Four advanced technological platforms are available in proteomics, biophysics and structural biology, molecular and cellular imaging, and functional exploration.
Our primary mission is to conduct excellent research while training the next generation of scientists and promoting science to the general public. With over 100 scientific publications per year and numerous partnerships with industry and the clinical world, IPBS is a global leader in the discovery, characterization, validation, and exploitation of new biological targets in the fields of cancer, infection, and inflammation.