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Related Concept Videos

Protein Diffusion in the Membrane01:24

Protein Diffusion in the Membrane

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...
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...
Diffusion01:21

Diffusion

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...
Fluid Movement Between Compartments01:18

Fluid Movement Between Compartments

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...
Osmosis01:30

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.Diffusion Versus OsmosisBoth diffusion and osmosis are types of passive transport—cellular transport that does not require...

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Updated: Jun 10, 2026

Combining Fluidic Devices with Microscopy and Flow Cytometry to Study Microbial Transport in Porous Media Across Spatial Scales
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Diffusion through complex confining environments: Motion in fluctuating porous membrane structures.

Jakob Mihatsch1, Andreas M Menzel1

  • 1Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg, Institut für Physik, Magdeburg, Germany.

Biophysical Journal
|June 9, 2026
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Fluctuating membrane structures can trap and release larger particles, influencing their diffusion. This intermittent pore widening is key to understanding transport in complex biological and synthetic systems.

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Last Updated: Jun 10, 2026

Combining Fluidic Devices with Microscopy and Flow Cytometry to Study Microbial Transport in Porous Media Across Spatial Scales
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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

Area of Science:

  • Physics
  • Materials Science
  • Biophysics

Background:

  • Transport of entities in porous media is crucial in biology and technology.
  • Soft environments and fluctuating structures significantly impact diffusive dynamics.
  • Triply periodic membrane structures are found in cell organelles and synthetic systems.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To theoretically investigate the effect of a 3D fluctuating environment on particle diffusion.
  • To analyze how membrane fluctuations influence the motion of objects larger than pore sizes.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized a phase field approach for theoretical study.
  • Modeled a rigid spherical test object interacting with a fluctuating membrane.
  • Analyzed the mean squared displacement over time.

Main Results:

  • Membrane fluctuations can intermittently widen pores, allowing larger particles to move.
  • Particles become temporarily trapped in cavities before fluctuating pores permit movement.
  • A pronounced plateau in mean squared displacement indicates this trapping and release mechanism.

Conclusions:

  • The described diffusion mechanism is relevant for understanding particle transport in complex soft matter.
  • This phenomenon is potentially observable in biological systems, such as protein diffusion.
  • Fluctuating environments play a critical role in modulating transport dynamics.