Cell electroporation: Part 1. Theoretical simulation of the process of pore formation in a cell

Abstract

A kinetic model of cell electroporation is presented. The creation and resealing of metastable pores are described as random one-step processes. Two cases are analysed: A, the transmembrane potential ΔΦm is the same at all points on the cell surface; B, ΔΦm produced by an external electric field depends on the membrane site. On the basis of the presented model, the following characteristics of cell electroporation for these two cases are obtained: (i) the dependences of the probability that a cell is porated, Fp, and the average number of pores per cell, n̄, on the pulse duration τi at a fixed electric field strength E0, i.e. Fp(τi) and n̄(τi); (ii) the dependences of Fp and n̄ on the field strength E0 at a fixed pulse length τi, i.e. Fp(E0) and n̄(E0). General equations describing the dependences of Fp and n̄ on both parameters, i.e. Fp(E0, τi) and n̄(E0, τi), are also derived.