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Related Concept Videos

Osmosis and Osmotic Pressure of Solutions02:40

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...
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Osmosis

Osmosis is the movement of free water molecules through a semipermeable membrane.  The water's concentration gradient across the membrane is inversely proportional to the solutes' concentration. Whereas diffusion transports material across membranes and within cells, osmosis transports only water across a membrane, and the membrane limits the diffusion of solutes in the water. Osmosis is a special case of diffusion.
Water, like other substances, moves from a high concentration of free water...
Osmosis00:47

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.

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Sensing of Barrier Tissue Disruption with an Organic Electrochemical Transistor
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Tissue damage detection by osmotic surveillance.

Balázs Enyedi1, Snigdha Kala, Tijana Nikolich-Zugich

  • 1Cell Biology Program, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York 10065, USA.

Nature Cell Biology
|August 13, 2013
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Tissue damage detection involves more than cell lysis. Zebrafish use osmolarity changes to trigger inflammation via cytosolic phospholipase a2 (cPLA2) and leukocyte recruitment.

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Area of Science:

  • Cellular biology
  • Immunology
  • Tissue repair mechanisms

Background:

  • The precise mechanisms by which tissue damage is detected to initiate inflammatory responses remain largely unknown.
  • Current research primarily focuses on damage signals released during cell breakage and necrosis.
  • It is unclear if tissues utilize additional cues beyond cell lysis for damage detection.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate novel mechanisms of tissue damage detection beyond cell lysis.
  • To identify the signaling pathways involved in rapid leukocyte recruitment to injury sites.
  • To explore the role of environmental cues in initiating inflammatory responses.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized zebrafish as a model organism to study inflammatory responses.
  • Investigated the role of osmolarity differences in mediating leukocyte recruitment.
  • Examined the activation of cytosolic phospholipase a2 (cPLA2) at injury sites.
  • Analyzed the production of non-canonical arachidonate metabolites and their role in chemotaxis via the 5-oxo-ETE receptor (OXE-R).

Main Results:

  • Osmolarity differences between interstitial fluid and the external environment were found to mediate rapid leukocyte recruitment to tissue damage sites.
  • Activation of cytosolic phospholipase a2 (cPLA2) at injury sites was identified as a key step.
  • cPLA2 initiates the production of specific arachidonate metabolites that guide leukocyte movement (chemotaxis).
  • The 5-oxo-ETE receptor (OXE-R) mediates this leukocyte chemotaxis.

Conclusions:

  • Tissues can detect damage through direct surveillance of barrier integrity, independent of cell lysis.
  • Cell swelling, indicated by osmolarity changes, acts as a pro-inflammatory intermediate in damage detection.
  • This pathway involving osmolarity, cPLA2, and OXE-R provides a rapid mechanism for leukocyte recruitment to injured tissues.