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Related Concept Videos

Protein Diffusion in the Membrane01:24

Protein Diffusion in the Membrane

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...
Diffusion01:21

Diffusion

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...
Diffusion01:12

Diffusion

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...
Passive Diffusion: Overview and Kinetics01:17

Passive Diffusion: Overview and Kinetics

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.
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Fluid Movement Between Compartments01:18

Fluid Movement Between Compartments

The force applied by fluids against a surface, known as hydrostatic pressure, initiates the transfer of fluid among different compartments. Within our blood vessels, the blood's hydrostatic pressure is a result of the heart's pumping action. At the arteriolar end of capillaries, hydrostatic pressure (capillary blood pressure) exceeds the opposing colloid osmotic pressure created primarily by plasma proteins like albumin. This discrepancy in pressure propels plasma and nutrients from the...
What is an Electrochemical Gradient?01:26

What is an Electrochemical Gradient?

Adenosine triphosphate, or ATP, is considered the primary energy source in cells. However, energy can also be stored in the electrochemical gradient of an ion across the plasma membrane, which is determined by two factors: its chemical and electrical gradients.The chemical gradient relies on differences in the abundance of a substance on the outside versus the inside of a cell and flows from areas of high to low ion concentration. In contrast, the electrical gradient revolves around an ion’s...

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The Diffusion of Passive Tracers in Laminar Shear Flow
08:01

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Published on: May 1, 2018

Controlled microscale diffusion gradients in quiescent extracellular fluid.

Darren Cherng-Wen Tan1, Lin-Yue Lanry Yung, Partha Roy

  • 1Division of Bioengineering, National University of Singapore, Block E1, #05-22, 9 Engineering Drive 2, Singapore, 117576, Singapore.

Biomedical Microdevices
|March 23, 2010
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Researchers developed a microfluidic system using hydrogels to create stable concentration gradients for studying cell responses. This technology enables precise control over soluble factors in a tissue-like environment.

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Area of Science:

  • Biomedical Engineering
  • Cell Biology
  • Microfluidics

Background:

  • Microchannels can mimic tissue environments by creating concentration gradients of soluble factors.
  • Stable and reproducible gradients are crucial for studying cellular responses to these factors.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop a microfluidic system capable of generating stable, spatiotemporal concentration gradients of multiple solutes.
  • To demonstrate the system's utility in studying cell behavior under controlled gradient conditions.

Main Methods:

  • A microfluidic channel system with patterned hydrogels was designed.
  • Fluorophores and fluorescent glucose analogs were used as probes to visualize and quantify gradients.
  • In situ imaging and computational methods were employed to estimate solute diffusivity and hydrogel permeability.
  • The system's compatibility with living cells was tested using a mouse insulinoma cell line.

Main Results:

  • Stable, reproducible, and linear concentration gradients of multiple solutes were successfully generated.
  • A method for estimating solute diffusivity and hydrogel permeability from imaging data was established.
  • The microfluidic system demonstrated compatibility with living cells.
  • Cellular uptake and metabolism of a glucose analog were found to be heterogeneous and independent of the external gradient.

Conclusions:

  • The developed microfluidic system provides a robust platform for generating controlled extracellular gradients.
  • This system is suitable for investigating cell responses to various soluble factor gradients in a physiologically relevant context.
  • Further research can explore complex cellular behaviors in response to precisely controlled microenvironmental cues.