Kinetics of pore resealing in cell membranes after electroporation

Abstract

The kinetics of resealing of pores in human red blood cells permeabilized by a single exponential electric field pulse has been studied. At 37°C the restoration of membrane barrier function for relatively small molecules, such as, ascorbic acid and mannitol, is fast (characteristic time τ r is 2–3 min), while complete resealing proceeds more slowly (characteristic time 20–30 min). We conclude that depending on the electric pulse parameters there may be three stages of the pore resealing process: (i) rapid decrease of pore size (τ r < 1 s); (ii) slow pore size decrease (τ r is a few minutes) and (iii) complete pore closing (τ r > 10 min).