Electroporation of biological membranes from multicellular to nano scales
Weaver JC
IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation
10 (5): 754-768 OCT 2003
Electroporation, widely used in research and applications, is
briefly reviewed. Both cell and artificial planar bilayer membranes
exhibit dramatic changes if the transmembrane voltage is raised to
similar to0.2 to 1 V by various electric field pulses. Ionic and
molecular transport increases by orders of magnitude, with both
reversible and irreversible outcomes. Initially the term breakdown
was used, but ion pair generation of classic dielectric breakdown
was ruled out. Instead, a stochastic pore hypothesis is consistent
with features of electroporation in planar lipid membranes. There is
a rapid, nonlinear conduction increase through a rapidly evolving
pore population, and this causes the fast membrane discharge
previously termed "breakdown". Phenomena due to primary aqueous
pores and secondary processes such as heating and chemical exchange
have been observed in planar bilayers, cell single systems encountered
mainly in vitro, multicellular systems relevant to in vivo applications,
and possibly subcellular structures such as mitochondria. For
membrane systems that approach nanoscales, modified behavior should
occur because of conformational constraints, and deterministic
processes may become more important. Understanding electroporation
is a subset of a general problem: obtaining a quantitative description
of how electromagnetic field-altered changes in chemical species
within a biological system govern observed effects.
