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Cytolysis. A red blood cell in a hypotonic solution, causing water to move into the cell. Blood cells in solutions with different osmotic pressure. Cytolysis would result in the image on the far right. Cytolysis, or osmotic lysis, occurs when the liquid outside a cell enters the cell causing it to burst. Water can enter the cell by diffusion ...
Lysis (/ ˈlaɪsɪs / LY-sis) is the breaking down of the membrane of a cell, often by viral, enzymic, or osmotic (that is, "lytic" / ˈlɪtɪk / LIT-ik) mechanisms that compromise its integrity. A fluid containing the contents of lysed cells is called a lysate. In molecular biology, biochemistry, and cell biology laboratories, cell cultures ...
Cytolysin. Cytolysin refers to the substance secreted by microorganisms, plants or animals that is specifically toxic to individual cells, [1][2] in many cases causing their dissolution through lysis. Cytolysins that have a specific action for certain cells are named accordingly. For instance, the cytolysins responsible for the destruction of ...
Plasmolysis is the process in which cells lose water in a hypertonic solution. The reverse process, deplasmolysis or cytolysis, can occur if the cell is in a hypotonic solution resulting in a lower external osmotic pressure and a net flow of water into the cell. Through observation of plasmolysis and deplasmolysis, it is possible to determine ...
The innate immune system is an alternate defense strategy and is the dominant immune system response found in plants, fungi, prokaryotes, and invertebrates (see Beyond vertebrates). [2] The major functions of the innate immune system are to: act as a physical and chemical barrier to infectious agents; via physical measures such as skin and ...
Complement system. The complement system, also known as complement cascade, is a part of the humoral, innate immune system and enhances (complements) the ability of antibodies and phagocytic cells to clear microbes and damaged cells from an organism, promote inflammation, and attack the pathogen 's cell membrane. [1]
Cytoplasmic streaming, also called protoplasmic streaming and cyclosis, is the flow of the cytoplasm inside the cell, driven by forces from the cytoskeleton. [1] It is likely that its function is, at least in part, to speed up the transport of molecules and organelles around the cell. It is usually observed in large plant and animal cells ...
Tonicity. In chemical biology, tonicity is a measure of the effective osmotic pressure gradient; the water potential of two solutions separated by a partially-permeable cell membrane. Tonicity depends on the relative concentration of selective membrane-impermeable solutes across a cell membrane which determine the direction and extent of ...