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

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