Modeling the induction of lipid membrane electropermeabilization

Experiments show significant effects of an electric field on lipid membrane, leading to a pore formation when a high intensity field is applied. The phenomenon of electroporation is preceded by the induction and expansion of defects, responsible for the pre-pore excitation. We examine the mechanism of the induction of the field-driven defects by Monte Carlo simulations. The study is based on the improved Pink's model, which includes explicit interactions between the polar heads and energy of interactions between the heads and the field. No anomalous deformation of the molecules is considered. The study, provided for bilayer dipalmitoyl-phosphatidylcholine (DPPC) membrane in the gel (300 K) and fluid (330 K) phases, shows dependence of the membrane conformational and energetical state on the value of the electric field. We observe that the electric field affects the number of molecules in the gel and in the fluid states. In the layer at the negative potential, when the transmembrane voltage is above Uc ≈ 280 mV, lipid heads abruptly reorient and the number of local spots with fluid conformation increases. The other layer slightly tends to tighten its structure, producing additional mechanical stress between layers. Lipids showed complete insensitivity to the electric field within physiological limits, U < 70 mV.