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Related Concept Videos

Diffusion01:12

Diffusion

176.6K
Diffusion is the passive movement of substances down their concentration gradients—requiring no expenditure of cellular energy. Substances, such as molecules or ions, diffuse from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration in the cytosol or across membranes. Eventually, the concentration will even out, with the substance moving randomly but causing no net change in concentration. Such a state is called dynamic equilibrium, which is essential for maintaining overall...
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Protein Diffusion in the Membrane01:24

Protein Diffusion in the Membrane

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Proteins show rotational as well as lateral diffusion across the membrane. The lateral diffusion of proteins was confirmed through the cell fusion experiment where mouse and human cells were fused, resulting in hybrid cells. When the human and mouse cells fused, the specific membrane proteins on human and mouse cells were marked with the red and green-fluorescent markers, respectively. Initially, the red and green fluorescence was located on the respective hemisphere of the cell. As time...
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Facilitated Transport01:19

Facilitated Transport

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The chemical and physical properties of plasma membranes cause them to be selectively permeable. Since plasma membranes have both hydrophobic and hydrophilic regions, substances need to be able to transverse both regions. The hydrophobic area of membranes repels substances such as charged ions. Therefore, such substances need special membrane proteins to cross a membrane successfully. In  facilitated transport, also known as facilitated diffusion, molecules and ions travel across a...
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Diffusion01:21

Diffusion

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Diffusion is a type of passive transport. In passive transport, a substance tends to move from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration until the concentration is equal across the space. For example, take the diffusion of substances through the air. When someone opens a perfume bottle in a room filled with people, the perfume is at its highest concentration in the bottle and is at its lowest at the edges of the room. The perfume vapor will diffuse, or spread away, from the...
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Passive Diffusion: Overview and Kinetics01:17

Passive Diffusion: Overview and Kinetics

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Passive diffusion is a critical process that allows small lipophilic drugs to cross the cell membrane along a concentration gradient. This mechanism's efficiency depends on four primary factors: the membrane's surface area, the drug's lipid-water partition coefficient, the concentration gradient, and the membrane's thickness.
When administered orally, drugs establish a substantial concentration gradient between the gastrointestinal (GI) lumen and the bloodstream, expediting...
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Facilitated Diffusion01:16

Facilitated Diffusion

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The plasma membrane, a critical structure in cellular biology, houses an array of transporters, or carrier proteins, interspersed within its lipid bilayer. These proteins play a crucial role in solute transport through facilitated diffusion, a form of passive diffusion that uses transporters to move the molecules across the membrane.
In this process, substrates such as organic compounds and ions interact with a transporter on one side, triggering conformational changes in proteins that enable...
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 4, 2026

Fluorescence Recovery after Merging a Droplet to Measure the Two-dimensional Diffusion of a Phospholipid Monolayer
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Fluorescence Recovery after Merging a Droplet to Measure the Two-dimensional Diffusion of a Phospholipid Monolayer

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Structural proton diffusion along lipid bilayers.

Steffen Serowy1, Sapar M Saparov, Yuri N Antonenko

  • 1Forschungsinstitut fuer Molekulare Pharmakologie, Campus Berlin-Buch, Robert-Rössle-Strasse 10, D-13125 Berlin, Germany.

Biophysical Journal
|January 28, 2003
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Protons (H+) rapidly travel along membrane surfaces via the Grotthuss mechanism, a process crucial for biological functions. This structural diffusion is efficient over short distances, even in the presence of buffers.

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Area of Science:

  • Biophysics
  • Membrane Biology
  • Physical Chemistry

Background:

  • Lateral diffusion of protons (H+) along membrane surfaces is critical for cellular processes.
  • Understanding the mechanism and efficiency of H+ transport is essential for cell signaling and energy transduction.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the mechanism and efficiency of H+ lateral diffusion along lipid bilayers.
  • To determine the role of the Grotthuss mechanism in H+ transport.
  • To assess the impact of buffers on H+ diffusion velocity.

Main Methods:

  • Measurement of H+ diffusion coefficient along lipid bilayers using microelectrode-aided measurements and spatially resolved fluorescence.
  • Assessment of proton distribution and interfacial pH.
  • Evaluation of H+ diffusion in the presence of varying mobile buffer concentrations.

Main Results:

  • A high diffusion coefficient for H+ (5.8 x 10(-5) cm(2) s(-1)) was measured along lipid bilayers, indicative of a non-vehicular transport mechanism.
  • The Grotthuss mechanism, involving hydrogen-bonded water molecules, was identified as the primary driver of this rapid H+ diffusion.
  • Reconstitution of H+-binding sites and the presence of mobile buffers reduced the efficiency of H+ diffusion, with physiological relevance observed for distances around 10 nm.

Conclusions:

  • Anomalously fast lateral H+ diffusion occurs along membrane surfaces, primarily through the Grotthuss mechanism.
  • This structural diffusion is highly efficient over short distances (up to 100 µm) but is sensitive to buffer concentration.
  • The findings suggest that Grotthuss diffusion is a physiologically relevant pathway for proton transport in biological membranes, particularly over nanometer scales.