scholarly journals THE KINETICS OF PENETRATION

1939 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 501-520 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. G. Jacques

The accumulation of ammonia takes place more rapidly in light than in darkness. The accumulation appears to go on until a steady state is attained. The steady state concentration of ammonia in the sap is about twice as great in light as in darkness. Both effects are possibly due to the fact that the external pH (and hence the concentration of undissociated ammonia) outside is raised by photosynthesis. Certain "permeability constants" have been calculated. These indicate that the rate is proportional to the concentration gradient across the protoplasm of NH4X which is formed by the interaction of NH3 or NH4OH and HX, an acid elaborated in the protoplasm. The results are interpreted to mean that HX is produced only at the sap-protoplasm interface and that on the average its concentration there is about 7 times as great as at the sea water-protoplasm interface. This ratio of HX at the two surfaces also explains why the concentration of undissociated ammonia in the steady state is about 7 times as great in the sea water as in the sap. The permeability constant P''' appears to be greater in the dark. This is possibly associated with an increase in the concentration of HX at both interfaces, the ratio at the two surfaces, however, remaining about the same. The pH of sap has been determined by a new method which avoids the loss of gas (CO2), an important source of error. The results indicate that the pH rises during accumulation but the extent of this rise is smaller than has hitherto been supposed. As in previous experiments, the entering ammonia displaced a practically equivalent amount of potassium from the sap and the sodium concentration remained fairly constant. It seems probable that the pH increase is due to the entrance of small amounts of NH3 or NH4OH in excess of the potassium lost as a base.

1937 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 737-766 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. G. Jacques

When 0.1 M NaI is added to the sea water surrounding Valonia iodide appears in the sap, presumably entering as NaI, KI, and HI. As the rate of entrance is not affected by changes in the external pH we conclude that the rate of entrance of HI is negligible in comparison with that of NaI, whose concentration is about 107 times that of HI (the entrance of KI may be neglected for reasons stated). This is in marked contrast with the behavior of sulfide which enters chiefly as H2S. It would seem that permeability to H2S is enormously greater than to Na2S. Similar considerations apply to CO2. In this respect the situation differs greatly from that found with iodide. NaI enters because its activity is greater outside than inside so that no energy need be supplied by the cell. The rate of entrance (i.e. the amount of iodide entering the sap in a given time) is proportional to the external concentration of iodide, or to the external product [N+]o [I-lo, after a certain external concentration of iodide has been reached. At lower concentrations the rate is relatively rapid. The reasons for this are discussed. The rate of passage of NaI through protoplasm is about a million times slower than through water. As the protoplasm is mostly water we may suppose that the delay is due chiefly to the non-aqueous protoplasmic surface layers. It would seem that these must be more than one molecule thick to bring this about. There is no great difference between the rate of entrance in the dark and in the light.


1939 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. G. Jacques

The rate of entrance of electrolyte and of water into impaled cells of Halicystis Osterhoutii is unaffected by raising the pH of the sea water to 9.2 or lowering it to 7.0. It is quite possible that sodium enters by combining with an organic acid HX produced by the protoplasm. If the pK' of this acid is sufficiently low the change in external pH would not produce much effect on the rate of entrance of sodium. The rate of entrance of electrolytes is affected by light. In normal light (i.e. natural succession of daylight and darkness) the rate is about twice as great as in darkness.


1996 ◽  
Vol 270 (2) ◽  
pp. L183-L190 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Saumon ◽  
G. Martet ◽  
P. Loiseau

The glucose concentration in the epithelial lining fluid (ELF) results from a balance between cellular uptake and paracellular leakage. The present study examines whether the ELF glucose concentration can be predicted from the kinetics of glucose transport obtained in fluid-filled lungs. Isolated rat lungs were filled via the trachea with instillate containing 0-10 mM glucose; the perfusate glucose concentration was 10 mM. The rate of glucose removal from airspaces depended on luminal glucose concentration and was saturable [maximum uptake rate = 101 +/- 8.6 mumol.h-1.g dry lung wt-1; apparent Michaelis constant K(m) = 1.5 +/- 0.43 mM; R2 = 0.79]. Glucose removal was inhibited by phloridzin but not by phloretin or by inhibiting glycolysis. The steady-state concentration in fluid-filled lungs was estimated to be 0.15 +/- 0.034 mM. It agreed with that (< 1/20 plasma) calculated using glucose transport kinetics and paracellular permeability. The ELF glucose concentration obtained by bronchoalveolar lavage was 0.39 +/- 0.012 plasma in vivo and 0.39 +/- 0.021 perfusate in air-filled isolated lungs. The equilibrium ELF/perfusate distribution ratio of alpha-methyl-glucose was similar to that of glucose. Thus there is a major difference between the alveolar steady-state glucose concentration in air- and fluid-filled lungs despite similar mechanisms of airspace glucose removal. This suggests that glucose kinetics or access to uptake sites differ in air- and fluid-filled lungs.


1983 ◽  
Vol 215 (3) ◽  
pp. 589-595 ◽  
Author(s):  
L C Petersen

First differentials of progress curves are easily obtainable in many enzyme assay systems. Such curves may be more readily applicable to kinetic analysis than are the usual progress curves. The theory for this approach is developed, and simple graphical procedures for the determination of Michaelis parameters are indicated. By using an electronic differentiator device the application of the method is demonstrated on the kinetics of three different serine proteinases with various synthetic substrates. Whenever the steady-state concentration of an intermediate of the reaction is proportional to the rate, the transition of this intermediate in substrate-depletion experiments may be analysed in similar terms. This is demonstrated with cytochrome c oxidase kinetics. A number of other possible applications are discussed.


1971 ◽  
Vol 26 (12) ◽  
pp. 1276-1282 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Steudle ◽  
U. Zimmermann

The littoral alga Chaetomorpha linum is especially able to maintain a constant turgor pressure in the cell by regulating the internal osmotic pressure, if the salt content of the sea water changes. Experiments in artificial isotonic sea water with a constant sodium concentration, but variable potassium concentrations (from 1 to 50 mMol/1) prove, that the decrease or increase of the potassium concentration in the medium (CKa) is an essential cause for this regulation of the turgor pressure besides the change of the osmotic pressure of the medium, which was thought to be the predominant cause till now. In the examined concentration range the ratio CKa to CK1 (potassium concentration in the cell) depends linear on CKa in the steady state. At low values of CKa (< 10 mMol/1) the decrease in CK1 is compensated by a reversible sodium uptake only in part, and this leads to partly high changes in the cell turgor pressure, although the osmotic pressure of the medium remains constant. The results are discussed on the basis of carrier models.


1984 ◽  
Vol 219 (3) ◽  
pp. 843-847 ◽  
Author(s):  
J S Easterby

A regime is proposed for the design of coupled enzyme assays in which auxiliary enzymes are added at concentrations proportional to their Km values. Under these conditions it is possible to calculate the complete time course of the assay including the time required for the system to approach its steady state. The consequence of increasing the number of coupling enzymes is shown to be a considerable decrease in time required to reach the steady state provided that the overall transient time remains the same. The method is extended to the general consideration of pathways and shows that pathways of the same length exhibit identical temporal responses provided that the units of concentration and time used are based on the steady-state concentration of intermediates and the transient time respectively. An unexpected finding is that increasing the number of intermediates in a pathway can decrease the time required to enter a steady state.


1985 ◽  
Vol 248 (5) ◽  
pp. C498-C509 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Restrepo ◽  
G. A. Kimmich

Zero-trans kinetics of Na+-sugar cotransport were investigated. Sugar influx was measured at various sodium and sugar concentrations in K+-loaded cells treated with rotenone and valinomycin. Sugar influx follows Michaelis-Menten kinetics as a function of sugar concentration but not as a function of Na+ concentration. Nine models with 1:1 or 2:1 sodium:sugar stoichiometry were considered. The flux equations for these models were solved assuming steady-state distribution of carrier forms and that translocation across the membrane is rate limiting. Classical enzyme kinetic methods and a least-squares fit of flux equations to the experimental data were used to assess the fit of the different models. Four models can be discarded on this basis. Of the remaining models, we discard two on the basis of the trans sodium dependence and the coupling stoichiometry [G. A. Kimmich and J. Randles, Am. J. Physiol. 247 (Cell Physiol. 16): C74-C82, 1984]. The remaining models are terter ordered mechanisms with sodium debinding first at the trans side. If transfer across the membrane is rate limiting, the binding order can be determined to be sodium:sugar:sodium.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document