Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Cellular Membranes and Drug Transport01:24

Cellular Membranes and Drug Transport

Drugs must traverse multiple biological barriers, such as multi-layered skin, single-layered intestinal epithelium, and the plasma membrane, to reach their target sites within the body. The plasma membrane, a highly structured composite of phospholipids, carbohydrates, and proteins, is the cell's protective boundary, facilitating selective substance exchange.
Phospholipids arrange themselves into a bilayer, with hydrophilic heads oriented outward and hydrophobic tails facing inward.
Membrane Fluidity01:23

Membrane Fluidity

Cell membranes are composed of phospholipids, proteins, and carbohydrates loosely attached to one another through chemical interactions. Molecules are generally able to move about in the plane of the membrane, giving the membrane its flexible nature called fluidity. Two other features of the membrane contribute to membrane fluidity: the chemical structure of the phospholipids and the presence of cholesterol in the membrane.
Membrane Fluidity01:26

Membrane Fluidity

Membrane fluidity is explained by the fluid mosaic model of the cell membrane, which describes the plasma membrane structure as a mosaic of components—including phospholipids, cholesterol, proteins, and carbohydrates—that gives the membrane a fluid character.
Mosaic nature of the membrane
The mosaic characteristic of the membrane helps the plasma membrane remain fluid. The integral proteins and lipids exist as separate but loosely-attached molecules in the membrane. The membrane is a relatively...
Chemistry of the Cell02:58

Chemistry of the Cell

The cell is chemically composed of water, organic molecules and inorganic ions.
Water
The polarity of the water molecule and its resulting hydrogen bonding makes water a unique substance with special properties that are intimately tied to the processes of life. Life originally evolved in an aqueous environment, and most of an organism’s cellular chemistry and metabolism occur inside the aqueous contents of the cell’s cytoplasm. Special properties of water are its high heat capacity and heat of...
Pore Transport and Ion-Pair Transport01:17

Pore Transport and Ion-Pair Transport

Pore transport and ion-pair formation are critical mechanisms for the absorption and distribution of drugs in the body.
Pore transport, also known as convective transport, is a process where small molecules like urea, water, and sugars rapidly cross cell membranes as though there were channels or pores in the membrane. Although direct microscopic evidence is limited  but the concept of pores or channels is widely accepted based on physiological evidence. Despite the lack of direct microscopic...
Factors Affecting Drug Distribution: Tissue Permeability01:30

Factors Affecting Drug Distribution: Tissue Permeability

The drug distribution process within the human body is a complex interplay of various physicochemical properties inherent to the drugs. These properties, including molecular size, ionization degree, partition coefficient, and stereochemical nature, significantly impact how drugs permeate biological membranes to reach their target tissues.
Small molecules with a molecular weight below 500 to 600 Daltons can easily pass through the capillary membrane, gaining access to different tissues. Larger...

You might also read

Related Articles

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

Sort by
Same author

The total mass, copy number, and distribution of hormones in the human bloodstream.

PLoS biology·2026
Same author

Age-based approach to characterize the dynamics of cellular processes.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same author

Toward Solar-Powered Growth of Autotrophic <i>Escherichia coli</i> Using Photoelectrochemistry.

Journal of the American Chemical Society·2026
Same author

Systematic discovery of enzyme promiscuity in Escherichia coli using in vitro metabolomics.

Communications biology·2026
Same author

Vsb1, Ypq1, and Ypq2 control dynamic cationic amino acid storage in the yeast vacuole.

Life science alliance·2026
Same author

Metabolic thermodynamics: pertinent reference state and energy potentials.

The FEBS journal·2026

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 28, 2026

Realistic Membrane Modeling Using Complex Lipid Mixtures in Simulation Studies
07:31

Realistic Membrane Modeling Using Complex Lipid Mixtures in Simulation Studies

Published on: September 1, 2023

Hydrophobicity and charge shape cellular metabolite concentrations.

Arren Bar-Even1, Elad Noor, Avi Flamholz

  • 1Department of Plant Sciences, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.

Plos Computational Biology
|October 15, 2011
PubMed
Summary

Metabolite concentrations in cells are significantly influenced by their physical and chemical properties, not just enzymatic activity. These properties, like charge and solubility, explain major variations and may reflect evolutionary pressures on metabolic pathways.

More Related Videos

Inner Mitochondrial Membrane Sensitivity to Na+ Reveals Partially Segmented Functional CoQ Pools
05:27

Inner Mitochondrial Membrane Sensitivity to Na+ Reveals Partially Segmented Functional CoQ Pools

Published on: July 20, 2022

Extraction of Aqueous Metabolites from Cultured Adherent Cells for Metabolomic Analysis by Capillary Electrophoresis-Mass Spectrometry
11:39

Extraction of Aqueous Metabolites from Cultured Adherent Cells for Metabolomic Analysis by Capillary Electrophoresis-Mass Spectrometry

Published on: June 9, 2019

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 28, 2026

Realistic Membrane Modeling Using Complex Lipid Mixtures in Simulation Studies
07:31

Realistic Membrane Modeling Using Complex Lipid Mixtures in Simulation Studies

Published on: September 1, 2023

Inner Mitochondrial Membrane Sensitivity to Na+ Reveals Partially Segmented Functional CoQ Pools
05:27

Inner Mitochondrial Membrane Sensitivity to Na+ Reveals Partially Segmented Functional CoQ Pools

Published on: July 20, 2022

Extraction of Aqueous Metabolites from Cultured Adherent Cells for Metabolomic Analysis by Capillary Electrophoresis-Mass Spectrometry
11:39

Extraction of Aqueous Metabolites from Cultured Adherent Cells for Metabolomic Analysis by Capillary Electrophoresis-Mass Spectrometry

Published on: June 9, 2019

Area of Science:

  • Biochemistry
  • Systems Biology
  • Metabolomics

Background:

  • Cellular metabolite concentrations are crucial for biological function.
  • Global trends governing these concentrations remain incompletely understood.
  • Physico-chemical properties are hypothesized to play a significant role.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the correlation between metabolite physico-chemical properties and their in-vivo concentrations.
  • To analyze large-scale metabolomic datasets from diverse organisms and conditions.
  • To identify key physico-chemical drivers of metabolite concentration variation.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of publicly available metabolomic datasets from E. coli, S. cerevisiae, B. subtilis, and human.
  • Statistical correlation testing between metabolite concentrations and properties like charged atoms, non-polar surface area, lipophilicity, and solubility.
  • Examination of specific metabolite classes (amino acids, nucleotides).

Main Results:

  • Consistent correlations found between metabolite concentration and number of charged atoms, non-polar surface area, lipophilicity, and solubility.
  • These properties explain substantial variation (~100-fold changes) in metabolite concentrations.
  • Non-polar surface area and charged atoms accounted for nearly half the variation in a key dataset.
  • Hydrophobicity showed a strong influence on specific metabolite groups.

Conclusions:

  • Physico-chemical properties are major determinants of cellular metabolite concentrations.
  • Evolutionary pressures, such as minimizing leakage and aggregation, likely shaped these constraints.
  • Understanding these global constraints informs biochemical evolution and metabolic engineering.