Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 14, 2026
05:02
Cell Electrofusion Visualized with Fluorescence Microscopy
Published on: July 1, 2010
Electropermeabilization of cell membranes
Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews
|June 6, 2000
Summary
Applying intense electric fields to cells causes temporary membrane alterations, allowing molecule exchange and drug loading. While lipids are the primary target, proteins are also affected, but cell viability is preserved through metabolic recovery.
Area of Science:
- Cellular Biophysics
- Membrane Biology
- Drug Delivery
Background:
- Electric fields can alter cell membrane potential.
- High-intensity electric pulses can induce temporary membrane alterations.
- The molecular mechanisms of electric field-induced membrane changes are not fully understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effects of electric field pulses on cell membranes.
- To understand the molecular targets and consequences of electric field exposure.
- To explore the potential for drug delivery using electric field-induced permeabilization.
Main Methods:
- Application of short-lived, overcritical intensity electric field pulses to cells.
- Observation of membrane potential modulation and local membrane alterations.
- Analysis of molecular exchange across the permeabilized membrane.
Main Results:
- Electric fields induce position-dependent changes in membrane potential.
- Induced membrane alterations allow free exchange of hydrophilic molecules and leakage of metabolites.
- Lipids are primary targets, but membrane proteins are also affected; polar drugs can be loaded into the cytoplasm.
- The permeabilized state is long-lived, with cell metabolism critical for recovery.
- Cell viability is preserved despite membrane alterations.
Conclusions:
- Electric field pulses induce a reversible, permeabilized state in cell membranes.
- This phenomenon offers a potential method for intracellular drug delivery.
- Cellular metabolism plays a key role in resealing the membrane and maintaining viability.
Related Concept Videos
01:21The Resting Membrane Potential
Overview
01:18Patch Clamp
Many fundamental cell functions such as muscle contraction and nerve transmission rely on the electrical signals produced by the movement of positively and negatively charged ions across the cell membrane. One competent method to record current flowing across the whole cell or single ion channel is the patch-clamp technique.
In this method, a glass micropipette containing electrolyte solution is tightly sealed against a small portion of the cell membrane. As a result, a patch of the cell...
In this method, a glass micropipette containing electrolyte solution is tightly sealed against a small portion of the cell membrane. As a result, a patch of the cell...
01:15Potentiometry: Membrane Electrodes
Membrane electrodes, also known as p-ion electrodes, use membranes that selectively interact with free analyte ions, generating a potential difference across the membrane. The resulting membrane potential, known as the asymmetry potential, is not zero even when analyte concentrations on both sides of the membrane are equal. The membrane's response is typically not selective to a single analyte but proportional to the concentration of all ions in the sample solution capable of interacting at the...