Theory of electroporation: A review

Numerous studies are reviewed of the plasma membrane in relation to freezing injury and cold acclimation. An attempt is made to explore the nature of freezing injury of plants on which to formulate a mechanism(s) of injury and how the biochemical changes occurring during cold acclimation can be accurately assessed. Although it is likely that all cellular membranes are susceptible to freezing injury, there has been a tendency to establish a hierarchy of injury to various cellular membranes. Nevertheless, it is the plasma membrane that plays a central role in the behavior of the a cell during a freeze-thaw cycle. 247 references.

Role of the Plasma Membrane in Freezing Injury and Cold Acclimation

Electric field-mediated fusion and related electrical phenomena.

Disparate biological processes involve fusion of two membranes into one and fission of one membrane into two. To formulate the possible job description for the proteins that mediate remodeling of biological membranes, we analyze the energy price of disruption and bending of membrane lipid bilayers at the different stages of bilayer fusion. The phenomenology and the pathways of the well-characterized reactions of biological remodeling, such as fusion mediated by influenza hemagglutinin, are compared with those studied for protein-free bilayers. We briefly consider some proteins involved in fusion and fission, and the dependence of remodeling on the lipid composition of the membranes. The specific hypothetical mechanisms by which the proteins can lower the energy price of the bilayer rearrangement are discussed in light of the experimental data and the requirements imposed by the elastic properties of the bilayer.

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Protein-lipid interplay in fusion and fission of biological membranes.

The considerable amount of activity in the field of electrofusion and electropermeabilization is very promising from the point of view of new insights into biomembranes and new technologies in the future for the production of new compounds and modification of cell systems for nutrition, energy production and the removal of waste products. It is particularly gratifying to see how basic science has provided the foundation for a useful technology, although in some cases the time needed to develop an application is very long. In other cases, it is necessary to overcome the difficulties posed by existing schools of thought which have been shown to be wrong. It is fascinating to observe the many developments and discoveries in the areas of physics, material science, space technology and electronics which are just waiting to be applied to biological systems. An increased interdisciplinary collaboration between physicists and biologists could provide considerable impetus to biology and its application in technology. However, this can only be achieved if basic research into biological membranes is accelerated. The techniques for electrical breakdown, electropermeabilization and electrofusion could be an important tool in this process, since we cannot rule out the possibility that the high electrical fields occurring naturally in the membrane play an important role in the selective transport of substances across the membrane as well as in natural regulatory processes.

Electrical breakdown, electropermeabilization and electrofusion

246 - Electric breakdown of bilayer lipid membranes I. The main experimental facts and their qualitative discussion

Electric breakdown of bilayer lipid membranes

247 - Electric breakdown of bilayer lipid membranes II. Calculation of the membrane lifetime in the steady-state diffusion approximation

248 - Electric breakdown of bilayer lipid membranes III. Analysis of possible mechanisms of defect origination

251 - Electric breakdown of bilayer lipid membranes VI. A stochastic theory taking into account the processes of defect formation and death: Membrane lifetime distribution function

V.B. Arakelyan

Papers

246 - Electric breakdown of bilayer lipid membranes I. The main experimental facts and their qualitative discussion

Electric breakdown of bilayer lipid membranes

247 - Electric breakdown of bilayer lipid membranes II. Calculation of the membrane lifetime in the steady-state diffusion approximation

248 - Electric breakdown of bilayer lipid membranes III. Analysis of possible mechanisms of defect origination

251 - Electric breakdown of bilayer lipid membranes VI. A stochastic theory taking into account the processes of defect formation and death: Membrane lifetime distribution function