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Related Concept Videos

Diffusion01:21

Diffusion

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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...
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Diffusion01:12

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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...
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Factors Influencing the Rate of Chemical Reactions01:22

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A variety of factors influence the rate of chemical reactions. For a chemical reaction to happen, atoms must collide with enough energy to overcome the repulsion between their electrons. This energy is called activation energy. Factors influencing the rate of reaction either lower the activation energy or increase the likelihood of a successful collision.
Concentration and Pressure:
The more particles present within a given space, the more likely those particles are to bump into one another....
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Behavior of Gas Molecules: Molecular Diffusion, Mean Free Path, and Effusion03:48

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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...
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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...
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Kinetics describes the rate and path by which a reaction occurs. In contrast, thermodynamics deals with state functions and describes the properties, behavior, and components of a system. It is not concerned with the path taken by the process and cannot address the rate at which a reaction occurs. Although it does provide information about what can happen during a reaction process, it does not describe the detailed steps of what appears on an atomic or a molecular level. On the other hand,...
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Single-Molecule Diffusion and Assembly on Polymer-Crowded Lipid Membranes
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Single-Molecule Diffusion and Assembly on Polymer-Crowded Lipid Membranes

Published on: July 19, 2022

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Crowding, diffusion, and biochemical reactions.

Matthias Weiss1

  • 1Department of Experimental Physics I, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany.

International Review of Cell and Molecular Biology
|January 2, 2014
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Cellular diffusion differs from dilute solutions due to macromolecular crowding, causing hindered and anomalous diffusion. This impacts biochemical reactions and pattern formation within cells.

Keywords:
Anomalous diffusionDiffusionDiffusion-limited reactionsFluorescence correlation spectroscopyFluorescence recoveryFractal kineticsMacromolecular crowdingPhotobleachingSubdiffusion

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Area of Science:

  • Biophysics
  • Cell Biology
  • Biochemistry

Background:

  • Diffusion is fundamental for molecular transport, biochemical reactions, and pattern formation in cells.
  • Macromolecular crowding in cellular environments significantly alters molecular diffusion compared to dilute solutions.
  • Cellular diffusion exhibits hindered and anomalous behaviors.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To introduce and overview the causes of crowding-induced diffusion anomalies.
  • To explain the consequences of these diffusion anomalies.
  • To discuss the impact of altered diffusion on cellular biochemical reactions.

Main Methods:

  • This review synthesizes existing research on molecular diffusion in cellular environments.
  • It focuses on the effects of macromolecular crowding.
  • The review discusses theoretical and experimental findings related to diffusion anomalies.

Main Results:

  • Macromolecular crowding leads to deviations from simple diffusion, resulting in hindered and anomalous diffusion.
  • These diffusion anomalies affect the rates and outcomes of biochemical reactions.
  • Altered diffusion dynamics play a role in cellular pattern formation.

Conclusions:

  • Crowding-induced diffusion anomalies are a critical factor in cellular function.
  • Understanding these anomalies is essential for comprehending cellular processes.
  • Further research into diffusion in crowded cellular environments is warranted.