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Related Concept Videos

Facilitated Diffusion01:16

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...
Fundamental Mathematical Principles in Pharmacokinetics: Rate and Order of Reaction01:15

Fundamental Mathematical Principles in Pharmacokinetics: Rate and Order of Reaction

In pharmacokinetics, the rates and order of reactions play a crucial role in understanding how the body processes drugs and help us comprehend drug absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination. A critical concept in pharmacokinetics is the rate constant, which quantifies the speed of a reaction. It provides valuable information about the kinetics of drug elimination. The rate constant allows us to determine the rate at which drugs are eliminated from the body.
Pharmacokinetic reactions...
Enlargement of the Plasma Membrane01:22

Enlargement of the Plasma Membrane

Cell division and enlargement are processes that require precise control. The control ensures that cell division cannot proceed unless the cell has grown to a specific size. A spherical, dividing cell requires an approximately 1.6X increase in its surface area to double its volume. The secretory pathway also has a significant role in cell membrane enlargement. Secretory vesicles that bud off from the Golgi apparatus and later fuse with the plasma membrane during exocytosis are a major source of...
Enzyme Kinetics01:19

Enzyme Kinetics

Enzymes speed up reactions by lowering the activation energy of the reactants. The speed at which the enzyme turns reactants into products is called the rate of reaction. Several factors impact the rate of reaction, including the number of available reactants. Enzyme kinetics is the study of how an enzyme changes the rate of a reaction.
Scientists typically study enzyme kinetics with a fixed amount of enzyme in the controlled environment of a test tube. When more reactant, or substrate, is...
Introduction to Enzyme Kinetics01:19

Introduction to Enzyme Kinetics

Enzyme kinetics studies the rates of biochemical reactions. Scientists monitor the reaction rates for a particular enzymatic reaction at various substrate concentrations. Additional trials with inhibitors or other molecules that affect the reaction rate may also be performed.
The experimenter can then plot the initial reaction rate or velocity (Vo) of a given trial against the substrate concentration ([S]) to obtain a graph of the reaction properties. For many enzymatic reactions involving a...
Facilitated Transport01:19

Facilitated Transport

The chemical and physical properties of plasma membranes cause them to be selectively permeable. Since plasma membranes have both hydrophobic and hydrophilic regions, substances need to be able to transverse both regions. The hydrophobic area of membranes repels substances such as charged ions. Therefore, such substances need special membrane proteins to cross a membrane successfully. In  facilitated transport, also known as facilitated diffusion, molecules and ions travel across a membrane via...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 24, 2026

Measuring Plasma Membrane Protein Endocytic Rates by Reversible Biotinylation
11:32

Measuring Plasma Membrane Protein Endocytic Rates by Reversible Biotinylation

Published on: December 23, 2009

Reaction kinetics in the plasma membrane.

Ziya Kalay1

  • 1Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (WPI-iCeMS), Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan. zkalay@icems.kyoto-u.ac.jp

Biotechnology Journal
|March 2, 2012
PubMed
Summary

Understanding cellular life requires studying molecular interactions within the cell, especially the dynamic plasma membrane. This review explores experimental and theoretical advances in this mesoscopic biological frontier.

Area of Science:

  • Biophysics
  • Cell Biology
  • Systems Chemistry

Background:

  • Understanding life's origins necessitates a bottom-up approach, explaining how molecules form a living cell.
  • The cellular environment, particularly the plasma membrane, is complex, heterogeneous, and dynamic, challenging traditional study methods.
  • Molecular interactions within cells are crucial for survival, communication, and reproduction.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review recent experimental and theoretical developments in studying molecular interactions within the plasma membrane.
  • To explore the implications of molecular interactions in the heterogeneous plasma membrane environment for biological function.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of experimental data from studies on molecular interactions in cellular environments.

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

Published on: November 12, 2020

Adhesion Frequency Assay for In Situ Kinetics Analysis of Cross-Junctional Molecular Interactions at the Cell-Cell Interface
13:22

Adhesion Frequency Assay for In Situ Kinetics Analysis of Cross-Junctional Molecular Interactions at the Cell-Cell Interface

Published on: November 2, 2011

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 24, 2026

Measuring Plasma Membrane Protein Endocytic Rates by Reversible Biotinylation
11:32

Measuring Plasma Membrane Protein Endocytic Rates by Reversible Biotinylation

Published on: December 23, 2009

Spot Variation Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy for Analysis of Molecular Diffusion at the Plasma Membrane of Living Cells
05:56

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

Published on: November 12, 2020

Adhesion Frequency Assay for In Situ Kinetics Analysis of Cross-Junctional Molecular Interactions at the Cell-Cell Interface
13:22

Adhesion Frequency Assay for In Situ Kinetics Analysis of Cross-Junctional Molecular Interactions at the Cell-Cell Interface

Published on: November 2, 2011

  • Theoretical modeling of molecular behavior in heterogeneous and dynamic cellular systems.
  • Focus on the mesoscopic scale within the cell, particularly the plasma membrane.

    • Main Results:

    • The plasma membrane acts as a heterogeneous medium for molecular interactions.
    • Small, sometimes countable, numbers of reactants influence molecular interactions.
    • These interactions have significant implications for overall cellular function.

    Conclusions:

    • Studying the mesoscopic world inside the cell, especially the plasma membrane, is key to understanding cellular mechanisms.
    • Despite challenges, the dynamic and heterogeneous nature of the cellular environment offers unique opportunities for scientific exploration.
    • Advances in experimental and theoretical approaches are crucial for unraveling the complexities of molecular interactions in biological systems.