The Origin of Cellular Electrical Potentials

Ling, Gilbert N.

doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-2105-7_2

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 49 publications

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“…The activity of the "ion channels" of membraneless microspheres also appears in a different light ( [34], Fig. 2): it is caused by spontaneous changes in the adsorption potential of the microscopically thin surface layer of microspheres, that is, it is the result of the same physical phenomenon as in living cells, according to Ling's theory [39]. Thus, membraneless protocells, the precursors of living cells, had electrical activity long before the formation of membranes such as the axon membrane.…”

Section: Electrical Potentialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Membraneless physiology of the living cell. The past and the present

Matveev

2022

4open

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Since the 1880s, the concept of compartmentalizing through membranes has taken a firm place in cell physiology and has defined the objects, methods, and goals of physiologists’ research for decades. A huge mass of biologists know about the important role of intra-membrane pumps, channels, and lipids, and various hypotheses about the origin of life often begin with explanations about how the lipid membrane occurred, without which it is impossible to imagine the origin of a living cell. Against this background, there was a dissonance of statements that there are membraneless organelles in the cell, the functions of which are rapidly expanding under our eyes. Physically, they are similar to coacervate droplets, which from time to time were used to explain the origin of life, and now the coacervates are being more and more often discussed when describing the physics of the nucleus and cytoplasm of modern cells. However, ideas about the coacervate nature of cytoplasm/protoplasm originated in the first half of the 19th Century, when the contents of cells were likened to jelly, but this approach gradually faded into the shadows. Nevertheless, limited research in this area continued and was completed in the form of a membraneless cell physiology. Now that the focus of attention has turned to membraneless compartmentalization, it’s time to remember the past. The sorption properties of proteins are the physical basis of membraneless cell because of water adsorbed by proteins changes the physical state of any biomolecular system, from supramolecular and subcellular structures to the cell as a whole. A thermodynamic aqueous phase is formed because adsorbed water does not mix with ordinary water and, in this cause, is separated from the surrounding solution in the form of a compartment. This article discusses the fundamental physical properties of such a phase – a biophase. As it turned out, the Meyer–Overton rule, which led to the idea of a lipid membrane, also applies to membraneless condensates.

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Section: Electrical Potentialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Membraneless physiology of the living cell. The past and the present

Matveev

2022

4open

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From substance fermentation to action potential in modern science (part two)

2018

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Introduction: After conducting a bibliographical review on the works of various researchers at different times to explain the phenomenon of the transmission of nerve impulses, it is observed that since the eighteenth century, when modern science was born, scientific knowledge in the field of physiology had an accelerated development following the creation of new research techniques and the application of the scientific method. Thus, the philosophical theory of “animal spirits” led to the current concept of action potential, understood as a merely electrochemical phenomenon.Discussion: The establishment of the scientific method and the development of new research techniques led several researchers at different times to unravel the molecular mechanisms involved in the transmission of nerve impulses, which took two and a half centuries to reach the current concept about the origin of action potential.Conclusion: The notion “animal spirits” was valid for many centuries, while modern science took a little more than two centuries to understand the phenomenon of nerve impulse transmission.

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The Origin of Cellular Electrical Potentials

Cited by 2 publications

References 49 publications

Membraneless physiology of the living cell. The past and the present

Membraneless physiology of the living cell. The past and the present

From substance fermentation to action potential in modern science (part two)

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