The Reduction in Electroporation Voltages by the Addition of a Surfactant to Planar Lipid Bilayers

The effects of a nonionic surfactant, octaethyleneglycol mono n-dodecyl ether (C 12E 8), on the electroporation of planar bilayer lipid membranes made of the synthetic lipid 1-pamitoyl 2-oleoyl phosphatidylcholine (POPC), was studied. High-amplitude (∼100–450 mV) rectangular voltage pulses were used...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biophysical journal 1998-08, Vol.75 (2), p.880-888
Main Authors: Troiano, Gregory C., Tung, Leslie, Sharma, Vinod, Stebe, Kathleen J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Detergents - chemistry
Electric Conductivity
Electrochemistry - instrumentation
Electrochemistry - methods
Electroporation
Kinetics
Lipid Bilayers - chemistry
Models, Chemical
Phosphatidylcholines - chemistry
Polyethylene Glycols - chemistry
Surface-Active Agents - chemistry
Time Factors
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Summary:The effects of a nonionic surfactant, octaethyleneglycol mono n-dodecyl ether (C 12E 8), on the electroporation of planar bilayer lipid membranes made of the synthetic lipid 1-pamitoyl 2-oleoyl phosphatidylcholine (POPC), was studied. High-amplitude (∼100–450 mV) rectangular voltage pulses were used to electroporate the bilayers, followed by a prolonged, low-amplitude (∼65 mV) voltage clamp to monitor the ensuing changes in transmembrane conductance. The electroporation thresholds of the membranes were found for rectangular voltage pulses of given durations. The strength-duration relationship was determined over a range from 10 μs to 10 s. The addition of C 12E 8 at concentrations of 0.1, 1, and 10 μM to the bath surrounding the membranes decreased the electroporation threshold monotonically with concentration for all durations ( p < 0.0001). The decrease from control values ranged from 10% to 40%, depending on surfactant concentration and pulse duration. For a 10- μs pulse, the transmembrane conductance 150 μs after electroporation ( G 150) increased monotonically with the surfactant concentration ( p = 0.007 for 10 μM C 12E 8). These findings suggest that C 12E 8 incorporates into POPC bilayers, allowing electroporation at lower intensities and/or shorter durations, and demonstrate that surfactants can be used to manipulate the electroporation threshold of lipid bilayers.
ISSN:0006-3495
1542-0086
DOI:10.1016/S0006-3495(98)77576-9