SURFACTANT EFFECTS ON YEAST-CELLS

The nonionic surfactant, Pluronic F-68, is finding increasingly widespread use in eukaryotic cell cultures, although its mechanism of action in these different systems is obscure. Here we demonstrate that surfactants can alter the rate of fluorescein diacetate uptake into yeast cells and propose that this involves changes in membrane permeability. This effect occurs independently of changes in both membrane and soluble cell protein profiles and is not accompanied by any obvious alterations in yeast cell or membrane structure. Comparison by patch-clamp analysis revealed that both Pluronic and Triton X-100 altered the permeability of artificial lipid bilayers, but the magnitude of response differed according to surfactant used. Possible mechanisms of surfactant-mediated effects are discussed, including the formation of membrane pores.