ABSTRACT
Membrane permeability can be transiently increased by a transient increase in the transmembrane voltage. The term electropermeabilization is used by a number of workers who appear to choose to specify a change in permeability without attributing the change to a particular mechanism. In either case the phenomenon is caused by one or more electric pulses applied to electrodes which are in physical contact with the medium in which the cell or membrane system is present. Electric field strengths in or near the active site of cytochrome c are higher than exist in normal transmembrane metabolic potentials. Experimental systems using electrical conductivity to follow electroporation include the patch-clamp technique, and a teflon block, with a hole over which a lipid bilayer is formed, separating two electrode-chambers. The use of electrical conductivity to measure pore characteristics is a powerful technique.
