Zimmermann U, Pilwat G, Péqueux A, Gilles R
J Membr Biol. 1980 May 23;54(2):103-13. doi: 10.1007/BF01940564.
Electrical breakdown of cell membranes is interpreted in terms of an electro-mechanical model. It postulates for certain finite membrane areas that the actual membrane thickness depends on the voltage across the membrane and the applied pressure. The magnitude of the membrane compression depends both on the dielectric constant and the compressive, elastic modulus transverse to the membrane plane. The theory predicts the existence of a critical absolute hydrostatic pressure at which the intrinsic membrane potential is sufficiently high to induce "mechanical" breakdown of the membrane. The theoretically expected value for the critical pressure depends on the assumption made both for the pressure-dependence of the elastic modulus of the membrane and of the intrinsic membrane potential. It is shown that the critical pressure is expected at about 65 M Pa. The prediction of a critical pressure could be verified by subjecting human erythrocytes to high pressures (up to 100 M Pa) in a hyperbaric chamber. The net potassium efflux in dependence on pressure was used as an criterion for breakdown. Whereas the potassium net efflux was linearly dependent on pressure up to 60 M Pa, a significant increase in potassium permeability was observed towards higher pressure in agreement with the theory. The increase in the net potassium efflux above 60 M Pa was reversible, as indicated by measurements in which the same erythrocyte sample was subjected to several consecutive pressure pulses. Temperature changes in the erythrocyte suspension during compression and decompression were so small (less than 2 degrees C) that they could not account for the observed effects.
细胞膜的电击穿是根据一个机电模型来解释的。该模型假定，对于某些有限的膜面积，实际的膜厚度取决于跨膜电压和外加压力。膜压缩的程度既取决于介电常数，也取决于垂直于膜平面的压缩弹性模量。该理论预测存在一个临界绝对静水压力，在这个压力下，固有膜电位足够高，足以引发膜的“机械”击穿。临界压力的理论预期值取决于对膜弹性模量和固有膜电位的压力依赖性所做的假设。结果表明，临界压力预计在65兆帕左右。通过在高压舱中对人体红细胞施加高压（高达100兆帕），可以验证临界压力的预测。将钾离子净外流对压力的依赖性用作击穿的标准。在高达60兆帕的压力下，钾离子净外流与压力呈线性相关，而在更高压力下，观察到钾离子通透性显著增加，这与理论相符。高于60兆帕时钾离子净外流的增加是可逆的，这一点通过对同一红细胞样本进行多次连续压力脉冲测量得到了证实。红细胞悬液在压缩和减压过程中的温度变化非常小（小于2摄氏度），因此它们无法解释所观察到的效应。
