Molecular Aspects of Cell Membranes as Substrates for Interaction with Electromagnetic Fields

Abstract

Important new questions have arisen concerning the role of the cell membrane in sensing the electrochemical environment which bathes it, and about ways in which these signals in surrounding fluid may be conveyed from the cell surface to its interior. For more than one hundred years, models of cell membranes have focused on the lipid bilayer or plasma membrane as the essential structural element separating intracellular contents from surrounding fluid. Although this original concept remains valid, there is a new awareness that cell membranes are far more complex. They must detect a wide variety of cell surface stimuli that inlcude neurotransmitter molecules, antibodies and most hormones. From these first events, signals passing to the cell interior initiate a vast spectrum of processes, many associated with release of metabolic energy. In this transductive coupling across the cell membrane, intracellular responses are triggered at energy levels far higher than in the initial cell surface event.