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. 1978 Jan;21(1):1–17. doi: 10.1016/S0006-3495(78)85505-2

Voltage-dependent capacitance in lipid bilayers made from monolayers.

O Alvarez, R Latorre
PMCID: PMC1473368  PMID: 620076

Abstract

Electrocompression has been measured in lipid bilayers made by apposition of two monolayers. The capacitance C(V), as a function of membrane potential, V, was found to be well described by C(V) = C(O) [1 + alpha(V + delta psi)2] where C(O) is the capacitance at V = O, alpha is the fractional increase in capacitance per square volt, and delta psi is the surface potential difference. In lipid bilayers made from monolayers alpha has a value of 0.02 V-2, which is ca. 500-fold smaller than the value found in solvent containing membranes. In asymmetric bilayers made of one neutral and one negatively charged monolayer, delta psi values were found to be those expected from independent measurements of surface charge density. If the fractional increase in capacitance found here is a good approximation to that of biological membranes, nonlinear capacitative charge displacement derived from electrostriction is expected to be less than 1% of the total gating charge displacement found in squid axons.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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