Electroporation of a multicellular system: asymptotic model analysis

Quantitative understanding of electroporation in a multicellular system has been limited. The transient aqueous pore theory describes electroporation as the stochastic formation of hydrophilic pores in the presence of an applied electric field. We have used an asymptotic model for local membrane electroporation in a transport lattice system model to predict effects of a electrical pulse on a didactic multicellular model. We show that pulses of amplitude 0.2 to 2 kV/cm and duration 100 /spl mu/s can cause extensive electroporation resulting in significant redistribution of transmembrane voltages.