Studies of cell pellets: II. Osmotic properties, electroporation, and related phenomena: membrane interactions.

Using the relations between pellet structure and electric properties derived from the preceding paper, the responses of rabbit erythrocyte pellets to osmotic or colloidal-osmotic effects from exchanged supernatants and from electroporation were investigated. Changing the ionic strength of the supernatant, or replacing it with dextran or poly(ethylene glycol) solutions, caused changes of Rp according to the osmotic behavior of the pellet. Rp was high and ohmic before electroporation, but dropped abruptly in the first few microseconds once the transmembrane voltage exceeded the membrane breakdown potential. After the initial drop, Rp increased as a result of the reduction of intercellular space. Rp increased regardless of whether the pellets were formed before or immediately after the pulse, indicating that porated cells experienced a slow colloidal-osmotic swelling. The intercellular or intermembrane distances between cells in a pellet, as a function of osmotic, colloidal-osmotic, and centrifugal pressures used to compress rabbit erythrocyte pellets, were deduced from the Rp measurement. This offered a unique opportunity to measure the intermembrane repulsive force in a disordered system including living cells. Electrohemolysis of pelleted cells was reduced because of limited swelling by the compactness of the pellet. Electrofusion was observed when the applied voltage per pellet membrane exceeded the breakdown voltage. The fusion yield was independent of pulse length greater than 10 microseconds, because after the breakdown of membrane resistance, voltage drop across the pellet became insignificant. Replacing the supernatant with poly(ethylene glycol) or dextran solutions, or coating pellets with unporated cell layers reduced the colloidal-osmotic swelling and hemolysis, but also reduced the electrofusion yield. These manipulations can be explored to increase electroloading and electrofusion efficiencies.

Studies of cell pellets: I. Electrical properties and porosity.

Cell pellets formed by centrifugation provided a good system to study the osmotic behavior, electroporation, and interaction between cells. Rabbit erythrocyte pellets were used in this study because they were simpler than nucleated cells to model analytically. Structurally, cell pellets possessed properties of porous solid bodies and gels. Electrically, cell pellets were shown to behave as a parallel set of resistance, Rp, and capacitance, Cp. Information on pellet structures was obtained from electric measurements. The pellet resistance reflected the intercellular conductivity (porosity and gap conductivity), whereas the pellet capacitance depended mostly on membrane capacitance. The pellet resistance was more sensitive to experimental conditions. The intercellular gap distance can be derived from pellet porosity measurements, providing the cell volume and surface area were known. Rp increased and relaxed exponentially with time when centrifugation started and stopped; the cycles were reversible. When supernatants were exchanged with solutions containing hypotonic electrolytes or macromolecules (such as PEG) after the pellets were formed, complicated responses to different colloidal osmotic effects were observed. A transient decrease followed by a large increase of Rp was observed after the application of a porating electric pulse, as expected from a momentary membrane breakdown, followed by a limited colloidal-osmotic swelling of pelleted cells. The equilibrium values of Rp, Cp, pellet porosity, and intercellular distances were measured and calculated as functions of cell number, centrifugation force, and ionic strength of the exchanged supernatant. Thus, the structure and properties of cell pellets can be completely characterized by electrical measurements.

Electrical properties of cell pellets and cell electrofusion in a centrifuge.

A new approach is proposed for studying cell deformability by centrifugal force, electrical properties of cell membranes in a high electric field, and for performing efficient cell electrofusion. Suspensions of cells (L929 and four other cell types examined) are centrifuged in special chambers, thus forming compact cell pellets in the gap between the electrodes. The setup allows measurement of the pellet resistance and also the high-voltage pulse application during centrifugation. The pellet resistance increases sharply with the centripetal acceleration, which correlates with reduction of the cell pellet porosity due to cell compression and deformation. Experiments with cells pretreated with cytochalasin B or colcemid showed that cell deformability depends significantly on the state of cytoskeleton. When the voltage applied to the cell pellet exceeds a 'critical' value, electrical breakdown (poration) of cell membranes occurs. This is seen as a deflection in the I(V) curve for the cell pellet. The electropores formed during the breakdown reseal in several stages: the fastest takes 0.5-1 ms while the whole process completes in minutes. A novel effect of colloid-osmotic compression of cell pellets after electric cell permeabilization is described. Supercritical pulse application to the cell pellet during intensive centrifugation leads to massive cell fusion. The fusion index grows with the increase of centripetal acceleration, and drops drastically when the pulse is applied after the centrifuge is stopped. The colloid-osmotic pellet compression enhances the fusion efficiency. No fusion occurs when cells are brought in contact after the pulse treatment. The data suggest that tight intermembrane contact formed prior to pulse application is a prerequisite condition for efficient cell electrofusion. The capacities of the technique proposed and the mechanism of membrane electrofusion are discussed.

[Changes in cellular radiosensitivity by modifying the cytoplasmic membranes]. / Izmenenie radiochuvstvitel'nosti kletok putem modifikatsii tsitoplazmaticheskikh membran.

The radiosensitivity of mouse myeloma and E. coli cells in the presence of Mg2+ and UO2(2+) ions has been investigated. It has been shown that Mg2+ ions (10(-4) M) do not influence the viability of E. coli and mouse myeloma cells. The presence of Mg2+ ions during irradiation reduces the survival rate of E. coli cells, but the addition of Mg2+ ions after irradiation does not influence the radiosensitivity of E. coli cells. Comparison of the results on the influence of Mg2+ ions upon cells and bilayer lipid membranes (BLM) permits us to suppose that Mg2+ ions increase the positive charge of the membranes thus promoting the increase in the number of short-lived radiolysis products which impair membranes and increase cell radiosensitivity. UO2(2+) ions (10(-4) M) increase the radioresistance of E. coli cells which can be associated with the increase in the lateral membrane viscosity, as it was shown in the studies on BLM.

Kinetics and mechanism of cell membrane electrofusion.

A new quantitative approach to study cell membrane electrofusion has been developed. Erythrocyte ghosts were brought into close contact using dielectrophoresis and then treated with one square or even exponentially decaying fusogenic pulse. Individual fusion events were followed by lateral diffusion of the fluorescent lipid analogue 1,1'-dihexadecyl-3,3,3',3'-tetramethylindocarbocyanine perchlorate (Dil) from originally labeled to unlabeled adjacent ghosts. It was found that ghost fusion can be described as a first-order rate process with corresponding rate constants; a true fusion rate constant, k(f), for the square waveform pulse and an effective fusion rate constant, k(ef), for the exponential pulse. Compared with the fusion yield, the fusion rate constants are more fundamental characteristics of the fusion process and have implications for its mechanisms. Values of k(f) for rabbit and human erythrocyte ghosts were obtained at different electric field strength and temperatures. Arrhenius k(f) plots revealed that the activation energy of ghost electrofusion is in the range of 6-10 kT. Measurements were also made with the rabbit erythrocyte ghosts exposed to 42 degrees C for 10 min (to disrupt the spectrin network) or 0.1-1.0 mM uranyl acetate (to stabilize the bilayer lipid matrix of membranes). A correlation between the dependence of the fusion and previously published pore-formation rate constants for all experimental conditions suggests that the cell membrane electrofusion process involve pores formed during reversible electrical breakdown. A statistical analysis of fusion products (a) further supports the idea that electrofusion is a stochastic process and (b) shows that the probability of ghost electrofusion is independent of the presence of Dil as a label as well as the number of fused ghosts.

[Fusion of Erwinia chrysanthemi spheroplasts in an electric fields]. / Sliianie sferoplastov Erwinia chrysanthemi v élektricheskom pole.

A new approach has been elaborated for electrofusion of Erwinia chrysanthemi spheroplasts. The new approach consists of superimposition of high voltage impulses on the pellet of tightly contacting cells in the course of centrifugation. The mixture of spheroplasts of two genetically marked strains was placed into the special centrifuge chambers and spinned for 15 min at 2500 g to get a compressed pellet between chamber electrodes. Three successive pulses of 6.6 kv/cm amplitude and 30 microseconds duration were applied to spheroplast pellet during centrifugation. Fusion products were viable and after plating on the surface of hypertonic medium regenerated to the rod forms. As a result, the hybrid clones carrying the markers of both parents were isolated.

Electrofusion of fibroblasts on the porous membrane.

Electric fusion of cells is usually performed in two steps: the first is the creation of tight intercellular contact, the second is an application of electric pulses which induce membrane fusion proper. In the present work a new technique of cell electrofusion on the porous film is described. It consists of preliminary cultivation of cell monolayer on the porous film (protein-coated cellophane). Then cells of the same or any other type are added from above to form a second cell layer upon the first one. The pulses of the electric field are applied normally to the plane of the double cell layer to induce cell fusion. After pulse application a picture of mass polynucleation was observed. At the same time we did not obtain fusion of L cells by means of dielectrophoretic electrofusion technique. This difference in efficiency could be explained by the formation of broad zones of membrane contact between the cells adherent to the film, while during intensive dielectrophoresis only the point contacts were revealed. The high-conducting medium for electric treatment providing an efficient fusion on the film and high cell viability was composed. Neither cytochalasin B nor colcemid affected cell fusion noticeably; however the sodium azide (added with 2-deoxyglucose) inhibited fusion completely. The short hypotonic shock after electric treatment enhanced the rate of polycaryon formation.

The electrical breakdown of cell and lipid membranes: the similarity of phenomenologies.

The current responses of human erythrocyte and L-cell membranes being subject to rectangular voltage pulses of 150-700 mV amplitude and 5 X 10(-3)-10 s duration were recorded by means of the patch-clamp method. The behaviour of planar lipid bilayer membranes of oxidized cholesterol and UO2(2+)-modified bilayers of azolectin in a high electric field was investigated for comparison. The gradual growth in the conductance (reversible electrical breakdown) was found for both the cell membranes and lipid bilayers of the compositions studied, with the application of voltage pulses of sufficient duration, to be completed by its drastic enhancement (irreversible breakdown). The time interval preceding the irreversible breakdown and the rate of increase in conductance during the reversible breakdown are determined by the amplitude of the voltage applied. The recovery of the initial properties of the membrane following the reversible breakdown consists of the two stages, the latter substantially differing by their characteristic times. The first very rapid stage (tau much less than 1 ms) reflects the lowering of the conductance of small pores with decreasing voltage across the membrane. The diminishing of the number and mean radii of the pores resulting in their complete disappearance occurs only at the second stage of membrane healing, which lasts several seconds or even minutes. The phenomenological similarity of the cell and lipid membrane breakdown indicates that pores developed during the electrical breakdown of biological membranes arise in their lipid matrices. The structure and the properties of the pores are discussed.

[Reversible electrical breakdown of cholesterol-containing lipid bilayer membranes modified with holothurin A]. / Obratimyi élektricheskii proboi kholesterinsoderzhashchikh bisloinykh lipidnykh membran, modifitsirovannykh goloturinom A.

Reversible electrical breakdown of cholesterol-containing BLM modified with holothurin A, i. e. a significant reversible increase of membrane conductivity under the effect of the electrical field was described. So when the voltage approximately 0.3 V was applied to the BLM for 10 ms its conductivity was reversibly increased by 4 orders as compared to the initial one. Reproducibility of current oscillograms, non-linear current breakdown--potential relationship and non-linear spasmodic decrease of conductivity at step-like reduction of the potential on the membrane show similarity of this phenomenon with the reversible breakdown of the membranes of oxidized cholesterol and of asolectin BLM in the presence of UO22+ ions. The mechanism of reversible electrical breakdown of BLM is discussed in terms of the development of a great number of local conductive defects in the membrane under the effect of the electrical field.

[Potentiodynamic method of studying the reaction between liposomes and bilayer lipid membranes]. / Issledovanie vzaimodeistviia liposom s BLM potentsiodinamicheskim metodom.

Changes of surface potential difference of neutral BLM in the presence of negatively charged liposomes were controlled by means of potentiodynamic method. The liposomes were prepared by sonication of PS-suspension in buffer solution. BLM was formed conventionally from lecithin--decane mixture. Measurements were carried out in buffer solution 2 mM KCL, 5 mM Tris-Cl pH 7.6) at 30 degrees C. It is shown that the liposomes are irreversibly bound to BLM, but do not fuse with it under the conditions investigated.

[Liposome fusion with planar lipid membranes]. / Sliianie liposom s ploskoi lipidnoi membranoi.

Potentiodynamic method was used for investigating bilayer lipid membrane (BLM)- liposomes (LS) interaction. BLM was formed from egg lecithin and its mixture with phosphatidylserine (PS); LS-from PS. It is shown that in the presence of calcium in the aqueous phase (1-10 mM) and charged phospholipids in both LS and BLM, fusion of LS with BLM is observed. The fusion event was registered by measuring the increase of negative charge density on BLM surface opposite to that facing the LS.

[Cation selectivity of a BLM in a state of "stress"]. / Kationnaia selektivnost' BLM v "stressovom" sostoianii.

In asymmetric conditions (by electrolyte concentration) cyclic voltage current curves of BLM were measured in a stress state initiated after a short -- time effect of a strong electric field. BLM from negatively charged lipids were shown to exhibit notable cation -- anion selectivity under these conditions. The result obtained agrees with the assumption to the effect that stress and preclamping fluctuations are related to the formation of through pores the inner face of which is lined with the polar heads of lipids.

[Effect of exposure to "stress" on the electrical properties of BLM]. / Vliianie "stressovykh" vozdeistvii na élektricheskie svoistva BLM.

The influence of high potential and hydrostatic pressure gradients on BLM has been studied. It has been found that short exposures of BLM to the above factors, which are nearly as strong as those rupturing BLM, often induce in the membrane unusual states characterized by drastic increase in the current fluctuations with simultaneous increase of its average value. The level of fluctuations and the average current on individual membranes subjected to intermittent exposures vary appreciably. Of greatest interest are the membranes for which the average current value is not much higher than the background level. Such membranes can fluctuate steadily for several hours without any appreciable change in their behavior. In these cases the minimum current value during fluctuations often corresponds to the background current. Usually the current fluctuations on membranes excited by potential or hydrostatic pressure gradients cease abruptly. The electrical properties of such membranes are virtually the same as those of the unstressed membranes. The qualitative studies of the influence of the solution composition and temperature showed that in the range 25--40 degrees C in different solutions the excitation effects of BLM from general lipids of brain and a lecithin-cholesterol mixture are qualitatively similar and resemble those due to some biologically active substances diminishing the mechanical stability of BLM. Some possible mechanisms of excitation of BLM exposed to stress factors are discussed.