Capacitive response of biological membranes

Abstract: We present a minimal model to analyze the capacitive response of a biological membrane subjected to a step voltage via blocking electrodes. Through a perturbative analysis of the underlying electrolyte transport equations, we show that the leading-order relaxation of the transmembrane potential is governed by a capacitive timescale, ${\tau_{\rm C} =\dfrac{\lambda_{\rm D}L}{D}\left(\dfrac{2+\Gamma\delta^{\rm M}/L}{4+\Gamma\delta^{\rm M}/\lambda_{\rm D}}\right)}$, where $\lambda_{\rm D}$ is the Debye screening length, $L$ is the electrolyte width, $\Gamma$ is the ratio of the dielectric permittivity of the electrolyte to the membrane, $\delta^{\rm M}$ is the membrane thickness, and $D$ is the ionic diffusivity. This timescale is considerably shorter than the traditional RC timescale ${\lambda_{\rm D} L / D}$ for a bare electrolyte due to the membrane's low dielectric permittivity and finite thickness. Beyond the linear regime, however, salt diffusion in the bulk electrolyte drives a secondary, nonlinear relaxation process of the transmembrane potential over a longer timescale ${\tau_{\rm L} =L^2/4\pi^2 D}$. A simple equivalent-circuit model accurately captures the linear behavior, and the perturbation expansion remains applicable across the entire range of observed physiological transmembrane potentials. Together, these findings underscore the importance of the faster capacitive timescale and nonlinear effects on the bulk diffusion timescale in determining transmembrane potential dynamics for a range of biological systems.