Bioelectrorheological model of the cell. VI. Experimental verification of the rheological model of cytoplasmic membrane.

The susceptibility of the Neurospora crassa (slime) cellular membrane to electroporation and electrodestruction in an alternating electric field was further investigated. The results were analyzed according to the dynamic rheological model of the cytoplasmic membrane. Based on an analytical description of membrane susceptibility to electroporation, the rheological parameters of the foregoing process in N. crassa cellular membrane were found: they closely resemble those previously determined for the membranes' destruction. This suggests that both processes are temporally related and are induced within the same structures of the membrane. The dependence of the destruction of the membrane on the time of application and the frequency of the electric field was theoretically predicted and experimentally confirmed.