Frontiers in Physiology (Dec 2020)
Cell Volume Changes and Membrane Ruptures Induced by Hypotonic Electrolyte and Sugar Solutions
Abstract
The cell volume changes induced by hypotonic electrolyte and sucrose solutions were studied in Chinese-hamster-ovary epithelial cells. The effects in the solutions with osmolarities between 32 and 315 mosM/L and distilled water were analyzed using bright-field and fluorescence confocal microscopy. The changes of the cell volume, accompanied by the detachment of cells, the formation of blebs, and the occurrence of almost spherical vesicle-like cells (“cell-vesicles”), showed significant differences in the long-time responses of the cells in the electrolyte solutions compared with the sucrose-containing solutions. A theoretical model based on different permeabilities of ions and sucrose molecules and on the action of Na+/K+-ATPase pumps is applied. It is consistent with the observed temporal behavior of the cells’ volume and the occurrence of tension-induced membrane ruptures and explains lower long-time responses of the cells in the sucrose solutions.
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