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Related Concept Videos

Diffusion01:12

Diffusion

193.6K
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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Protein Diffusion in the Membrane01:24

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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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Diffusion on Chromatography Columns01:07

Diffusion on Chromatography Columns

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In column chromatography, when an analyte is introduced as a narrow band at the top of the column, the solutes begin to separate and broaden, developing a Gaussian profile. This broadening occurs due to various factors, such as longitudinal diffusion.
Longitudinal diffusion occurs when the solute molecules in the mobile phase diffuse from the more concentrated center of the chromatographic band to the more dilute regions on either side, both towards and against the flow direction. This...
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Passive Diffusion: Overview and Kinetics01:17

Passive Diffusion: Overview and Kinetics

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Passive diffusion is a critical process that allows small lipophilic drugs to cross the cell membrane along a concentration gradient. This mechanism's efficiency depends on four primary factors: the membrane's surface area, the drug's lipid-water partition coefficient, the concentration gradient, and the membrane's thickness.
When administered orally, drugs establish a substantial concentration gradient between the gastrointestinal (GI) lumen and the bloodstream, expediting...
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Carrier Transport01:21

Carrier Transport

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The generation of electrical current in semiconductors is fundamentally driven by two mechanisms: drift and diffusion. These processes are essential for the functionality and performance of semiconductor-based devices.
Drift Current:
The drift of charge carriers is started by an external electric field (E). Charged particles, such as electrons and holes, experience an acceleration between collisions with lattice atoms. For electrons, this results in a drift velocity (vd) given by:
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Facilitated Transport01:19

Facilitated Transport

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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...
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Related Experiment Video

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The Diffusion of Passive Tracers in Laminar Shear Flow
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Diffusion Resistance of Segmented Channels.

Leonardo Dagdug1, Alexander M Berezhkovskii2, Sergey M Bezrukov2

  • 1Departamento de Fisica, Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana-Iztapalapa, 09340 Mexico City, Mexico.

The Journal of Physical Chemistry. B
|August 11, 2023
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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Biological channels, crucial for cell function, often have complex, non-cylindrical shapes. This study models these intricate geometries to understand molecular transport and selectivity through diffusion resistance calculations.

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Area of Science:

  • Biophysics
  • Molecular Biology
  • Membrane Transport

Background:

  • Cellular and organelle channels deviate from simple cylindrical shapes.
  • Complex geometries, including vestibules and constrictions, act as molecular filters.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To model diverse, non-ideal channel geometries found in nature.
  • To derive analytical expressions for diffusion resistance in these complex channels.

Main Methods:

  • Approximation of natural channel structures using varying radii.
  • Modeling channels with smoothly varying radii and multiple cylindrical sections.
  • Analysis of diffusive transport driven by concentration gradients.

Main Results:

  • Analytical expressions for diffusion resistance were derived.
  • The study covers channels with smoothly varying radii and complex multi-sectioned structures.
  • Thin constrictions were specifically analyzed for their impact.

Conclusions:

  • The derived diffusion resistance accurately describes steady-state transport in complex membrane channels.
  • This work provides a framework for understanding channel selectivity based on geometry.
  • The models are applicable to a wide range of naturally occurring channel structures.