Biopolymers and cell. 1997; 13 (1): 70 - 74

Gentle and effective mehod to permeabilize the animal and human cell membrane

B. S. Negrutskii

The permeabilized cell system appears one of the most promising methods to study recently discovered subcellular organization of some metabolic processes and the functional mechanisms involved. The existing permeabilization procedures offer rather harsh membrane treatment which leads to the loss of cell integrity. The plant glycoside saponin was used to permeabilize human and animal cells in this work. The saponin treatment is found to provide both essential conservation of intracetlular organization and unlimited access of exogenous macromolecutes to the inside of cell. The permeabilization conditions are slightly different for immobilized cells and cells in suspension. High functional activity of permeabilized cells as well as the availability of the interior of cells to fluorescently labeled macromolecules are demonstrated.