Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Osmosis

Osmosis

Approximately 60% to 95% of the weight of living organisms is attributed to water. Therefore, maintaining appropriate water balance within cells is of paramount importance. Osmosis is the movement of water across a semipermeable membrane, such as a cell’s plasma membrane. In living organisms, water plays a crucial role as a solvent—a molecule that dissolves other molecules.Diffusion Versus OsmosisBoth diffusion and osmosis are types of passive transport—cellular transport that does not require...

Osmosis and Osmotic Pressure of Solutions

Osmosis and Osmotic Pressure of Solutions

A number of natural and synthetic materials exhibit selective permeation, meaning that only molecules or ions of a certain size, shape, polarity, charge, and so forth, are capable of passing through (permeating) the material. Biological cell membranes provide elegant examples of selective permeation in nature, while dialysis tubing used to remove metabolic wastes from blood is a more simplistic technological example. Regardless of how they may be fabricated, these materials are generally...

Atomic Force Microscopy

Atomic Force Microscopy

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is a type of scanning probe microscopy that can analyze topographic details of various specimens like ceramics, glass, polymers, and biological samples. AFM offers over 1000 times more resolution than the optical imaging system. Images generated from AFM are three-dimensional surface profiles, offering an advantage over the flat, two-dimensional images from other imaging techniques.
The AFM Probe
The probe is regarded as the heart of any AFM setup and comprises the...

Factors Influencing Microbial Growth: Osmolarity

Factors Influencing Microbial Growth: Osmolarity

Osmolarity is the measure of solute concentration in a solution. It plays a critical role in determining water availability for organisms. Water moves across semipermeable membranes through osmosis, flowing from regions of lower solute concentration (more dilute) to regions of higher solute concentration (more concentrated).In high-solute environments, microbial cells lose water, leading to dehydration and inhibited growth. The extent to which water is available to microbes in such environments...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Investigating the Effect of Ginger-Derived Nanovesicles on the Growth and Metabolic Activity of <i>Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron</i>: An Isothermal Microcalorimetric Study.

Journal of extracellular biology·2026

Same author

Osmotic Remodeling of Extracellular Vesicles for Precision Nanomedicine.

Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany)·2026

Same author

β-Sitosterol β-D-glucoside (BSSG) triggers intestinal inflammation in zebrafish and mouse models prior to neurodegeneration onset.

Journal of biomedical science·2026

Same author

Nuclear ASC speck formation in microglia is associated with inflammasome priming and is exacerbated in LRRK2-G2019S Parkinson's disease.

Neurobiology of disease·2025

Same author

How Sup35 monomer conformation and amyloid fibril polymorphism determine yeast strain phenotypes.

Research square·2025

Same author

Single-particle analysis of small extracellular vesicles from human follicular fluid unveils immunomodulatory PD-L1<sup>+</sup> subpopulations and potentially fertility biomarkers.

PeerJ·2025

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 2, 2026

Estimation of Structural Sensitivity of Intrinsically Disordered Regions in Response to Hyperosmotic Stress in Living Cells Using FRET

Estimation of Structural Sensitivity of Intrinsically Disordered Regions in Response to Hyperosmotic Stress in Living Cells Using FRET

Published on: January 12, 2024

Observing the osmophobic effect in action at the single molecule level.

Daniel Aioanei¹, Isabella Tessari, Luigi Bubacco

¹Department of Biochemistry G.Moruzzi, University of Bologna, Via Irnerio 48, 40126 Bologna, Italy.

|May 11, 2011

Summary

Protecting osmolytes like glycerol stabilize proteins against mechanical unfolding. Glycerol stabilizes proteins without binding to the unfolding transition state, supporting the osmophobic model.

More Related Videos

Monitoring the Effect of Osmotic Stress on Secretory Vesicles and Exocytosis

Monitoring the Effect of Osmotic Stress on Secretory Vesicles and Exocytosis

Published on: February 19, 2018

Covalent Immobilization of Proteins for the Single Molecule Force Spectroscopy

Covalent Immobilization of Proteins for the Single Molecule Force Spectroscopy

Published on: August 20, 2018

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 2, 2026

Estimation of Structural Sensitivity of Intrinsically Disordered Regions in Response to Hyperosmotic Stress in Living Cells Using FRET

Estimation of Structural Sensitivity of Intrinsically Disordered Regions in Response to Hyperosmotic Stress in Living Cells Using FRET

Published on: January 12, 2024

Monitoring the Effect of Osmotic Stress on Secretory Vesicles and Exocytosis

Monitoring the Effect of Osmotic Stress on Secretory Vesicles and Exocytosis

Published on: February 19, 2018

Covalent Immobilization of Proteins for the Single Molecule Force Spectroscopy

Covalent Immobilization of Proteins for the Single Molecule Force Spectroscopy

Published on: August 20, 2018

Area of Science:

Biophysics
Protein Dynamics
Chemical Biology

Background:

Protecting osmolytes stabilize protein structures against denaturation.
The osmophobic model explains osmolyte action via preferential exclusion.
Previous studies suggested osmolytes bind to protein unfolding transition states.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate glycerol's effect on protein unfolding transition states.
To reconcile experimental findings with the osmophobic model.
To provide single-molecule evidence for glycerol's stabilization mechanism.

Main Methods:

Single-molecule force spectroscopy experiments.
Mechanical unfolding of globular proteins.
Theoretical calculations using an augmented Ising-like protein model.

Main Results:

Glycerol stabilizes proteins against mechanical unfolding.
Glycerol does not alter the unfolding transition state position on the mechanical reaction coordinate.
Theoretical models confirm that glycerol does not change the unfolding transition state position.

Conclusions:

Glycerol stabilizes proteins without binding to the unfolding transition state.
Findings support the osmophobic model of osmolyte action.
The study clarifies the mechanism of osmolyte-mediated protein stabilization.