Potential perturbations, membrane

Other auxin-like herbicides (2,48) include the chlorobenzoic acids, eg, dicamba and chloramben, and miscellaneous compounds such as picloram, a substituted picolinic acid, and naptalam (see Table 1). Naptalam is not halogenated and is reported to function as an antiauxin, competitively blocking lAA action (199). TIBA is an antiauxin used in receptor site and other plant growth studies at the molecular level (201). Diclofop-methyl and diclofop are also potent, rapid inhibitors of auxin-stimulated response in monocots (93,94). Diclofop is reported to act as a proton ionophore, dissipating cell membrane potential and perturbing membrane functions. 

Both neutral and carboxylic ionophores have been extensively employed as tools for in vitro studies of biological systems (for reviews see refs. 17 and 83). However, because their electroneutral exchange-diffusion mode of transport does not perturb membrane potential, only the carboxylic subclass of ionophores is sufficiently tolerated by intact animals to produce well defined pharmacological responses. 

The electricity-producing system of electric fishes is built as follows. A large number of flat cells (about 0.1 mm thick) are stacked like the flat unit cells connected in series in a battery. Each cell has two membranes facing each other. The membrane potentials of the two membranes compensate for each other. In a state of rest, no electrostatic potential difference can be noticed between the two sides of any cell or, consequently, between the ends of the stack. The ends of nerve cells come up to one of the membranes of each cell. When a nervous impulse is applied from outside, this membrane is excited, its membrane potential changes, and its permeability for ions also changes. Thus, the electrical symmetry of the cell is perturbed and a potential difference of about 0.1 V develops between the two sides. Since nervous impulses are applied simultaneously to one of the membranes in each cell, these small potential differences add up, and an appreciable voltage arises between the ends of the stack. 

A generalized model of transport allowing for component interactions is provided by nonequilibrium thermodynamics where the flux of component i through the membrane /, [gmol/(cm -s)] is written as a first-order perturbation of the chemical potential dp,/dx [cal/(gmohcm)] ... 

The membrane potential reached in a system with only one permeant ion and no perturbing forces is called the equilibrium, or Nernst, potential for that ion thus, the final membrane potential for the system in Figure 6-2 is... 

The method of introduction of the fluorophore into the membrane is also important. Many probes are introduced into preexisting vesicles, natural membranes, or whole cells by the injection of a small volume of organic solvent containing the fluorophore. For DPH, tetrahydrofuran is commonly used, while methanol is often employed for other probes. The amount of solvent used should be the absolute minimum possible to avoid perturbation of the lipids, since the solvent will also partition into the membrane. With lipid vesicles this potential problem can be avoided by mixing the lipids and fluorophore followed by evaporation of the solvent and codispersing in buffer. For fluorophores attached to phospholipids, this is the only way to get the fluorophore into the bilayer with natural membranes, phospholipid exchange proteins or other techniques may have to be employed. 

While ionophore-stimulated 5-LO product release from neutrophils is often used as an indication of 5-LO inhibition, one must interpret these results cautiously. For example, halothane, an inhalation anaesthetic which may cause membrane perturbation [26], and colchicine, a microtubule disrupter [27], both were active, but presumably not because of 5-LO inhibition. A23187 is assumed to stimulate 5-LO by raising the intracellular calcium level, but this agent causes many other effects which may or may not be related to 5-LO activation, including changes in membrane potential, protein phosphorylation, phospholipid turnover, cyclic nucleotide levels, and DNA and protein synthesis [28]. Also, the effects of some putative 5-LO inhibitors on product release from neutrophils has been shown to vary with the stimulant used [29]. 

A related phenomenon occurs when the membrane in the above-mentioned experiment is permeable to the solvent and small ions but not to a macroion such as a polyelectrolyte or charged colloidal particles that may be present in a solution. The polyelectrolyte, prevented from moving to the other side, perturbs the concentration distributions of the small ions and gives rise to an ionic equilibrium (with attendant potential differences) that is different from what we would expect in the absence of the polyelectrolyte. The resulting equilibrium is known as the Donnan equilibrium (or, the Gibbs-Donnan equilibrium) and plays an important role in... 

In these experiments respiring mitochondria are observed to take up the K+ or Rb+ to give a high ratio of K+ inside to that outside and consequently a negative Em. There are problems inherent in the method. The introduction of a high concentration of ion perturbs the membrane potential, and there are uncertainties concerning the contribution of the Donnan equilibrium (Eq. 8-5) to the observed ion distribution.184... 

Because salt is carried by current, less membrane area per volume of water produced is required as current density increases consequently, in the first group, all costs associated with area vary inversely with current density. The second group— PR electric cost—increases with current density. The electrode and concentration potentials, V, which also appear in this group, may be handled as a perturbation of resistance and hence, in the interest of simplicity, omitted from further consideration. A third group is unaffected by current density. 

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