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Membrane channels are a family of biological membrane proteins which allow the passive movement of ions (ion channels), water or other solutes to passively pass through the membrane down their electrochemical gradient. They are studied using a range of channelomics experimental and mathematical techniques.
Illustration of a eukaryotic cell membrane Comparison of a eukaryotic vs. a prokaryotic cell membrane. The cell membrane (also known as the plasma membrane or cytoplasmic membrane, and historically referred to as the plasmalemma) is a biological membrane that separates and protects the interior of a cell from the outside environment (the extracellular space).
Transmembrane channels, also called membrane channels, are pores within a lipid bilayer. The channels can be formed by protein complexes that run across the membrane or by peptides . They may cross the cell membrane , connecting the cytosol , or cytoplasm , to the extracellular matrix . [ 1 ]
Endocytosis is defined as the uptake of material by the invagination of the plasma membrane. [4] More specifically, eukaryotic cells use endocytosis of the uptake of nutrients, down regulation of growth factor receptors’ and as a mass regulator of the signaling circuit.
Pinocytosis, which usually occurs from highly ruffled regions of the plasma membrane, is the invagination of the cell membrane to form a pocket, which then pinches off into the cell to form a vesicle (0.5–5 μm in diameter) filled with a large volume of extracellular fluid and molecules within it (equivalent to ~100 CCVs). The filling of the ...
There are three routes for water to flow in these tissues, known as the apoplastic, symplastic and transcellular pathways. Specifically, aquaporins are found in the vacuolar membrane, in addition to the plasma membrane of plants; the transcellular pathway involves transport of water across the plasma and vacuolar membranes. [41]
Several ideas have been proposed for the evolutionary origin of the nuclear membrane. [25] These ideas include the invagination of the plasma membrane in a prokaryote ancestor, or the formation of a genuine new membrane system following the establishment of proto-mitochondria in the archaeal host.
Invagination also often involves, and can be driven by, changes in cell height. When apical constriction occurs, this can lead to elongation of cells to maintain constant cell volume, and consequently a thickening of the epithelium. However, shortening of cells along the apical-basal axis can also help deepen the pit formed during invagination ...