Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology Commons^™

Selective Field Effects On Intracellular Vacuoles And Vesicle Membranes With Nanosecond Electric Pulses, Ephrem Tekle, Hammou Oubrahim, Sergey M. Dzekunov, Juergen F. Kolb, Karl H. Schoenbach

Bioelectrics Publications

Electric pulses across intact vesicles and cells can lead to transient increase in permeability of their membranes. We studied the integrity of these membranes in response to external electric pulses of high amplitude and submicrosecond duration with a primary aim of achieving selective permeabilization. These effects were examined in two separate model systems comprising of 1), a mixed population of 1,2-di-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine phospholipid vesicles and in 2), single COS-7 cells, in which large endosomal membrane vacuoles were induced by stimulated endocytosis. It has been shown that large and rapidly varying external electric fields, with pulses shorter than the charging time of …