Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 19, 2026
11:32
Determination of the Relative Cell Surface and Total Expression of Recombinant Ion Channels Using Flow Cytometry
Published on: September 28, 2016
13.9K
Cellular information dynamics through transmembrane flow of ions.
Robert A Gatenby1, B Roy Frieden2
1Departments of Radiology and Integrated Mathematical Oncology, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, Florida, 33612, USA. Robert.gatenby@moffitt.org.
Scientific Reports
|November 10, 2017
Summary
Cells use ion gradients to create information circuits, detecting and responding to signals. This ion flow acts as an optimal communication channel, minimizing information loss and maximizing speed, as seen in neuronal action potentials.
Area of Science:
- Cellular Biology
- Biophysics
- Information Theory
Background:
- Cells maintain large transmembrane ion gradients.
- Ion channels act as specialized gates for signal detection.
- Cellular responses involve changes in protein localization and enzyme activity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose and validate a model where transmembrane ion gradients form cellular information circuits.
- To analyze ion-based signal transmission as an optimal information channel.
- To demonstrate how cellular signaling principles align with information theory.
Main Methods:
- Modeling cellular information processing via ion gradients.
- Analyzing ion flow as a communication channel using Kullback-Leibler cross entropy.
- Applying information theory principles to ion dynamics.
Main Results:
- Transmembrane ion flow forms an optimal Shannon information channel.
- This model minimizes information loss and maximizes transmission speed.
- Neuronal action potentials are a specific instance of these general information principles.
Conclusions:
- Cellular ion gradients function as sophisticated information circuits.
- Ion channel activity and ion flow are fundamental to cellular communication.
- Information theory provides a framework for understanding cellular signaling mechanisms.
Related Concept Videos
01:21Electrochemical Gradient and Channel Proteins: An Overview
4.8K
An electrochemical gradient is a fundamental concept in biology and chemistry. It regulates the movement of ions across cell membranes. This movement is influenced by two factors:
The electrical gradient: The electrical gradient across cell membranes refers to the difference in electric charge between the inside and outside of a cell. This difference drives the movement of ions towards or away from the cells. For instance, if the inside of the cell is more negatively charged relative to...
The electrical gradient: The electrical gradient across cell membranes refers to the difference in electric charge between the inside and outside of a cell. This difference drives the movement of ions towards or away from the cells. For instance, if the inside of the cell is more negatively charged relative to...
4.8K
01:19Ion Channels
91.6K
The movement of ions like sodium, potassium, and calcium into and out of the cell is essential to maintain the electrochemical gradient in living cells. The ion channels—a class of membrane transport proteins—help maintain this ionic gradient for the smooth functioning of physiological activities such as maintaining cell size and volume, conducting nerve impulses, and gas and nutrient exchange.
Ion channels are specialized integral membrane proteins on the plasma membrane that allow...
Ion channels are specialized integral membrane proteins on the plasma membrane that allow...
91.6K
01:18Fluid Movement Between Compartments
4.3K
The force applied by fluids against a surface, known as hydrostatic pressure, initiates the transfer of fluid among different compartments. Within our blood vessels, the blood's hydrostatic pressure is a result of the heart's pumping action. At the arteriolar end of capillaries, hydrostatic pressure (capillary blood pressure) exceeds the opposing colloid osmotic pressure created primarily by plasma proteins like albumin. This discrepancy in pressure propels plasma and nutrients from the...
4.3K
01:44The Significance of Membrane Transport
42.9K
The transport of solutes across the cell membrane is essential for metabolic processes, like maintaining cell size and volume, generating the action potential, exchanging nutrients and gases, etc. Membrane transport can be either passive or active. It can be simple diffusion, facilitated, or mediated transport aided by transport proteins such as transporters and channels.
Transporters facilitate either an active or passive movement of solutes. They can allow a single-molecule transport down its...
Transporters facilitate either an active or passive movement of solutes. They can allow a single-molecule transport down its...
42.9K
01:23Transcellular Transport of Solutes
4.8K
Transcellular transport of solutes is the movement of substances like monosaccharides and amino acids through polarized cells. This transport mechanism is primarily seen in epithelial and endothelial cells aided by membrane transport proteins such as channels and transporters. The tight junctions between these cells confine the membrane proteins to the two sides of the cell. The epithelial cells have distinct apical and basolateral domains. In contrast, the endothelial cells show the luminal...
4.8K
01:26What is an Electrochemical Gradient?
128.8K
Adenosine triphosphate, or ATP, is considered the primary energy source in cells. However, energy can also be stored in the electrochemical gradient of an ion across the plasma membrane, which is determined by two factors: its chemical and electrical gradients.
The chemical gradient relies on differences in the abundance of a substance on the outside versus the inside of a cell and flows from areas of high to low ion concentration. In contrast, the electrical gradient revolves around an...
The chemical gradient relies on differences in the abundance of a substance on the outside versus the inside of a cell and flows from areas of high to low ion concentration. In contrast, the electrical gradient revolves around an...
128.8K