Liposomes Under Real Cell Conditions Behave Like Real Cells with a Single Pulsed Electric Field

Abstract

15Liposomes are widely assumed to present a straightforward physical model of cells. 16However, almost all previous liposome experiments with pulsed electric fields (PEFs) 17 have been conducted in low-conductivity liquids, a condition that differs significantly 18 2 from that of cells in medium. Here, we prepared liposomes consisting of soy bean 19 lecithin and cholesterol, at a molar ratio of 1:1, in higher-conductivity liquid that 20 approximated the conditions of red blood cells in phosphate-buffered saline, with inner 21 and outer liquid conductivities of 0.6 and 1.6 S/m, respectively. We found that a single 22 1.1 kV/cm, 400 s PEF promoted cell-like spontaneous division of liposomes. 23 24