Membrane capacitance techniques to monitor granule exocytosis in neutrophils

Cell membranes behave like electrical capacitors and changes in cell capacitance therefore reflect changes in the cell area. Monitoring capacitance can thus be used to study dynamic cellular phenomenon involving rapid changes in cell surface, such as exo- and/or endocytosis. In this review focus is on the use of capacitance techniques to study exocytosis in human neutrophils. We compare the whole-cell and the cell-attached capacitance techniques, and we review the complete literature dealing with capacitance measurements in human neutrophils.