Monday, December 14, 2009

Hypothesize why the pores in the cell membrance are of different sizes.?

Actually, there is no pores in the cell membrane in the sense of small holes as you could probably imagine. These pores are most of the time integral transmembrane proteins, or more frequently, an arrangement of several proteins. These proteins may have different sizes and structures, allowing them to create passive or active passages through the cell wall. One of the most common is the ion channel, which is indeed a folded protein. Ion channels regulate the flow of ions across the membrane in all cells. It is an integral membrane protein; or, more typically, an assembly of several proteins. Such %26quot;multi-subunit%26quot; assemblies usually involve a circular arrangement of identical or homologous proteins closely packed around a water-filled pore through the plane of the membrane or lipid bilayer. The pore-forming subunit(s) are called the 伪 subunit, while the auxiliary subunits are denoted 尾, 纬, and so on. While some channels permit the passage of ions based solely on charge, the archetypal channel pore is just one or two atoms wide at its narrowest point. It conducts a specific species of ion, such as sodium or potassium, and conveys them through the membrane single file--nearly as quickly as the ions move through free fluid. In some ion channels, passage through the pore is governed by a %26quot;gate,%26quot; which may be opened or closed by chemical or electrical signals, temperature, or mechanical force, depending on the variety of channel.

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