# WEB-036 — 18 GHz: membrane permeability in a simplified lipid model

Why this matters
A simplified membrane can help researchers ask whether a response requires the machinery of a living cell. These lipid vesicles admitted particles after exposure. Their simplicity is useful for mechanism research, but also limits what they can tell us about health.

Id: WEB-036

Author: Tharushi Perera et al.

Full Authors: Palalle G Tharushi Perera; Nevena Todorova; Zoltan Vilagosh; Olha Bazaka; The Hong Phong Nguyen; Kateryna Bazaka; Russell J Crawford; Rodney J Croft; Irene Yarovsky; Elena P Ivanova

Year: 2021

Title: Translocation of silica nanospheres through giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) induced by a high frequency electromagnetic field

Journal: RSC advances

Citation: Palalle G Tharushi Perera; Nevena Todorova; Zoltan Vilagosh; Olha Bazaka; The Hong Phong Nguyen; Kateryna Bazaka; Russell J Crawford; Rodney J Croft; Irene Yarovsky; Elena P Ivanova. Translocation of silica nanospheres through giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) induced by a high frequency electromagnetic field. RSC advances. 2021. doi:10.1039/d1ra05459g.

Doi: 10.1039/d1ra05459g

Pmid: 35496859

Topic: 18 GHz cellular experiments; Membrane permeability; Lipid-membrane models

Verification Group: Original text reviewed

Record Role: Original text reviewed

Featured: False

Exposure: 18 GHz; three 60 s cycles with 2 min cooling; apparatus output 17 W; suspension maintained below 40°C.

Design: Giant unilamellar lipid vesicles, silica nanospheres and molecular-dynamics simulations.

Finding: Exposed vesicles internalised approximately 23.5 nm nanospheres and clusters. Simulations suggested field-associated changes in interfacial water behaviour.

Statistics: See the original results; effect sizes were not independently recalculated.

Boundary: Acellular membrane model, not living tissue. Generator output is not absorbed dose. Simulated field strengths and timescales must not be treated as equivalent to the experiment or environmental exposure.

Related: Same membrane-research programme as WEB-026, WEB-027 and the PC12 localisation paper. Related publication records: WEB-034, WEB-035.

Protection Question: Which exposure conditions reproduce this finding, and what would establish its relevance beyond the experimental model?

Access: Original methods/results and interpretation reviewed; raw data and supplements were not independently audited.

Locator: Original methods and results

Notice: Linked Europe PMC/PubMed notice fields checked 21 October 2026; no correction/retraction surfaced for this record. Publisher/citation screening is not exhaustive.

Funding: See original disclosure; funding details were not established in this check.

Conflicts: Authors report no competing interests/conflicts; declaration checked, not independently audited.

Source Url: https://doi.org/10.1039/d1ra05459g

Retrieval Links: https://doi.org/10.1039/d1ra05459g | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35496859/ | https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9041541/

Verification Date: 2026-10-21

Discovery Id: TARGETED-20261021-09

Technology Tracks: satellite

Technology Connection: 18 GHz overlaps frequencies used for some satellite links. This is a laboratory membrane experiment, with different intensity, geometry and waveform from satellite exposure.

Publication Type: Original journal research

Study Setting: Membrane model / simulation

Browse Categories: cells