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News tagged with membrane

Speeding up drug discovery with rapid 3-D mapping of proteins

A new method for rapidly solving the three-dimensional structures of a special group of proteins, known as integral membrane proteins, may speed drug discovery by providing scientists with precise targets ...

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created May 30, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

A cell's first steps: Building a model to explain how cells grow

A collaboration between Lehigh University physicists and University of Miami biologists addresses an important fundamental question in basic cell biology: How do living cells figure out when and where to grow?

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created May 18, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

High-purity hydrogen generated from a single device

(PhysOrg.com) -- There are many ways to generate hydrogen, such as water electrolysis and steam reforming of gas, but the hydrogen produced by these methods tends to be combined with other byproduct and residual ...

Physics / Condensed Matter

created Oct 07, 2011 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (15) | comments 17 | with audio podcast feature

'Copper pump's' potential benefit in cancer treatment

(Phys.org) -- A team of University of California, San Diego researchers has made new discoveries about a copper-transporting protein in the membranes of human cells that drug-discovery scientists can co-opt ...

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created May 17, 2012 | popularity 4 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Researchers present a shiny new tool for imaging biomolecules

At the heart of the immune system that protects our bodies from disease and foreign invaders is a vast and complex communications network involving millions of cells, sending and receiving chemical signals ...

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Mar 23, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Research reveals novel transport mechanism for large ribonucleoproteins

The movement of genetic materials, such as RNA and ribosomes, from the nucleus to the cytoplasm is a critical component in a cell's ability to make the proteins necessary for essential biological functions. Until now, it ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created May 10, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

New method offers control of strain on graphene membranes

(PhysOrg.com) -- Graphene could be the superhero of materials – it’s light, strong and conducts heat and electricity effectively, which makes it a great material for potential use in all kinds of ...

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Apr 02, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Cell membrane is patterned like a patchwork quilt

(Phys.org) -- As the interface between the cell and its environment, the cell membrane, which consists of fats and proteins, fulfils a variety of vital functions. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute of ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created May 05, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (13) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

Unique salt allows energy production to move inland

Production of energy from the difference between salt water and fresh water is most convenient near the oceans, but now, using an ammonium bicarbonate salt solution, Penn State researchers can combine bacterial ...

Technology / Energy & Green Tech

created Mar 01, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (15) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Envelope for an artificial cell

(PhysOrg.com) -- Chemists have taken an important step in making artificial life forms from scratch. Using a novel chemical reaction, they have created self-assembling cell membranes, the structural envelopes ...

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Jan 25, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (18) | comments 10 | with audio podcast

New insights on an old polymer material, Nafion, will enable design of better batteries

Designing new materials depends upon understanding the properties of today's materials. One such material, Nafion, is a polymer that efficiently conducts ions (a polymer electrolyte) and water through its ...

Chemistry / Polymers

created Jun 19, 2011 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (6) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

First macro-scale thin-film solid-oxide fuel cell demonstrated

(PhysOrg.com) -- Materials scientists at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and SiEnergy Systems LLC have demonstrated the first macro-scale thin-film solid-oxide fuel cell (SOFC).

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Apr 04, 2011 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (14) | comments 8 | with audio podcast

How plants sense touch, gravity and other physical forces

(PhysOrg.com) -- At the bottom of plants' ability to sense touch, gravity or a nearby trellis are mechanosensitive channels, pores through the cells' plasma membrane that are opened and closed by the deformation ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Oct 21, 2011 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (15) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Invention could help pharmaceutical industry save money

Two Michigan State University researchers have invented a protein purifier that could help pharmaceutical companies save time and money.

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created May 01, 2012 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Researchers get a first look at the mechanics of membrane proteins

In two new studies, researchers provide the first detailed view of the elaborate chemical and mechanical interactions that allow the ribosome – the cell's protein-building machinery – to insert a ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Apr 17, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Membrane

A membrane is a layer of material which serves as a selective barrier between two phases and remains impermeable to specific particles, molecules, or substances when exposed to the action of a driving force. Some components are allowed passage by the membrane into a permeate stream, whereas others are retained by it and accumulate in the retentate stream.

Membranes can be of various thickness, with homogeneous or heterogeneous structure. Membrane can also be classified according to their pore diameter. According to IUPAC, there are three different types of pore size classifications: microporous (dp < 2nm), mesoporous (2nm < dp < 50nm) and macroporous (dp > 50nm). Membranes can be neutral or charged, and particles transport can be active or passive. The latter can be facilitated by pressure, concentration, chemical or electrical gradients of the membrane process. Membranes can be generally classified into three groups: inorganic, polymeric or biological membranes. These three types of membranes differ significantly in their structure and functionality.

For more information about Membrane, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

Related topics: cells , cell membrane