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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...
Diffusion01:12

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...
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...
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.
When administered orally, drugs establish a substantial concentration gradient between the gastrointestinal (GI) lumen and the bloodstream, expediting their diffusion into...
Behavior of Gas Molecules: Molecular Diffusion, Mean Free Path, and Effusion03:48

Behavior of Gas Molecules: Molecular Diffusion, Mean Free Path, and Effusion

Although gaseous molecules travel at tremendous speeds (hundreds of meters per second), they collide with other gaseous molecules and travel in many different directions before reaching the desired target. At room temperature, a gaseous molecule will experience billions of collisions per second. The mean free path is the average distance a molecule travels between collisions. The mean free path increases with decreasing pressure; in general, the mean free path for a gaseous molecule will be...
The Colloidal State01:29

The Colloidal State

The formation of a colloidal system is exemplified by an aqueous solution containing Cl− ions is introduced to another containing Ag+ ions, resulting in the precipitation of solid AgCl as extremely tiny crystals. Instead of settling out as a filterable precipitate, these crystals remain suspended in the liquid, showcasing a colloidal system.A colloidal system involves colloidal particles within the approximate range of 1 to 1000 nm in at least one dimension, dispersed in a medium called the...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 31, 2026

Single-Molecule Diffusion and Assembly on Polymer-Crowded Lipid Membranes
10:43

Single-Molecule Diffusion and Assembly on Polymer-Crowded Lipid Membranes

Published on: July 19, 2022

Protein self-diffusion in crowded solutions.

Felix Roosen-Runge1, Marcus Hennig, Fajun Zhang

  • 1Institut für Angewandte Physik, Universität Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
|July 7, 2011
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Macromolecular crowding significantly slows protein diffusion. Hydrodynamic interactions reduce protein self-diffusion to 20% of the dilute limit at biological volume fractions.

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In Situ Monitoring of Diffusion of Guest Molecules in Porous Media Using Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Imaging
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Last Updated: May 31, 2026

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10:43

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In Situ Monitoring of Diffusion of Guest Molecules in Porous Media Using Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Imaging
06:34

In Situ Monitoring of Diffusion of Guest Molecules in Porous Media Using Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Imaging

Published on: September 2, 2016

Area of Science:

  • Biophysics
  • Physical Chemistry

Background:

  • Macromolecular crowding is crucial for cellular function, influencing reaction and transport processes.
  • Protein diffusion is a key factor affected by crowding in biological systems.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate protein self-diffusion in crowded environments.
  • To quantify the impact of protein volume fraction on diffusion coefficients.

Main Methods:

  • Quasielastic neutron backscattering was used to probe protein self-diffusion.
  • An ellipsoidal protein model and colloid diffusion theory were applied.

Main Results:

  • Diffusion coefficient D(ϕ) decreased with increasing protein volume fraction (7%–30%).
  • Rotational and translational diffusion contributions were separated.
  • Translational diffusion D(t)(ϕ) follows short-time self-diffusion of effective spheres.

Conclusions:

  • Hydrodynamic interactions significantly impede protein self-diffusion in crowded solutions.
  • Protein self-diffusion is reduced to 20% of the dilute limit at biological volume fractions due to these interactions.