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Diffusion

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...

Diffusion

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...

Protein Diffusion in the Membrane

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...

Passive Diffusion: Overview and Kinetics

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.
When administered orally, drugs establish a substantial concentration gradient between the gastrointestinal (GI) lumen and the bloodstream, expediting their diffusion into...

Facilitated Diffusion

Facilitated Diffusion

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...

Drug Absorption Mechanism: Passive Membrane Transport

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Passive transport is a method of drug absorption where small, lipid-soluble drugs can move across the cell membrane. This movement happens along the concentration gradient, which is a natural flow from higher to lower concentration areas. The speed at which the drug moves is directly related to its lipid–water partition coefficient. This means that the more a drug dissolves in lipids, the faster it diffuses or spreads throughout the body. It is important to note that most drugs are either weak...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 31, 2026

Spot Variation Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy for Analysis of Molecular Diffusion at the Plasma Membrane of Living Cells

Spot Variation Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy for Analysis of Molecular Diffusion at the Plasma Membrane of Living Cells

Published on: November 12, 2020

Self-diffusion of biomolecules in solution.

Michio Tokuyama¹, Tatsuo Moriki, Yuto Kimura

¹World Premier International Research Center, Advanced Institute for Materials Research and Institute of Fluid Science, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.

Physical Review. E, Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics

|July 7, 2011

Summary

A new soft-core model potential accurately describes biomolecule self-diffusion in solution. Brownian dynamics simulations align with experimental data, validating the potential for understanding molecular motion.

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Spot Variation Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy for Analysis of Molecular Diffusion at the Plasma Membrane of Living Cells

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Area of Science:

Biophysics
Computational Chemistry
Physical Chemistry

Background:

Understanding biomolecule diffusion in solution is crucial for biological processes.
Existing models may not fully capture the complexities of molecular interactions.
Accurate diffusion coefficients are essential for various applications, from drug delivery to protein folding.

Purpose of the Study:

To introduce a simple soft-core model potential for biomolecule self-diffusion.
To validate the proposed potential against experimental data.
To provide a unified perspective on diffusion in suspensions.

Main Methods:

Development of a novel soft-core model potential.
Extensive Brownian-dynamics simulations to calculate self-diffusion coefficients.
Comparison of simulation results with experimental data for hard sphere suspensions.

Main Results:

The proposed soft-core potential qualitatively describes experimental self-diffusion data.
Brownian dynamics simulations successfully obtained long-time self-diffusion coefficients.
A unified viewpoint was established for comparing simulation and experimental findings.

Conclusions:

The developed soft-core model potential offers a viable approach for studying biomolecule self-diffusion.
The model demonstrates good agreement with experimental observations.
This work contributes to a better understanding of molecular dynamics in solution.