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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 1, 2026

Real-time Imaging of Plant Cell Surface Dynamics with Variable-angle Epifluorescence Microscopy

Real-time Imaging of Plant Cell Surface Dynamics with Variable-angle Epifluorescence Microscopy

Published on: December 12, 2015

Plant actin controls membrane permeability.

Petra Hohenberger¹, Christian Eing, Ralf Straessner

¹Botanical Institute, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Kaiserstr. 2, 76128 Karlsruhe, Germany.

Biochimica Et Biophysica Acta

|June 15, 2011

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Nanosecond pulsed electric fields (nsPEFs) can permeabilize cell membranes. Stabilizing actin filaments strengthens the plasma membrane, preventing nsPEF-induced permeabilization in plant cells.

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Area of Science:

Cell Biology
Biophysics

Background:

Nanosecond pulsed electric fields (nsPEFs) induce biological effects, but the underlying cellular mechanisms for membrane permeabilization remain unclear.
Understanding nsPEF interactions with cell membranes is crucial for biotechnological and medical applications.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the role of actin filaments in plant cell membrane response to nsPEFs.
To determine if modulating actin cytoskeleton affects membrane stability against electric permeabilization.

Main Methods:

Utilized genetically engineered plant cell lines with varying degrees of actin bundling.
Employed Trypan Blue staining to quantify membrane permeabilization.
Applied total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy to visualize the submembrane cytoskeleton.

Main Results:

Stabilization of actin filaments significantly increased plasma membrane stability against nsPEF-induced permeabilization.
Inducible expression of the WLIM actin-bundling domain enhanced membrane stability upon dexamethasone treatment.
Visualized a submembrane actin cytoskeleton directly adjacent to the plasma membrane.

Conclusions:

The submembrane actin cytoskeleton plays a critical role in stabilizing the plasma membrane against permeabilization by nsPEFs.
Targeting the actin cytoskeleton offers a potential strategy to modulate cellular responses to electric fields.