Article
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Immobile Charges Play an Essential Role for Membrane Potential Generation
Version 1
: Received: 2 February 2024 / Approved: 2 February 2024 / Online: 2 February 2024 (16:37:59 CET)
How to cite: Tamagawa, H.; Delalande, B. Immobile Charges Play an Essential Role for Membrane Potential Generation. Preprints 2024, 2024020182. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202402.0182.v1 Tamagawa, H.; Delalande, B. Immobile Charges Play an Essential Role for Membrane Potential Generation. Preprints 2024, 2024020182. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202402.0182.v1
Abstract
The physiological mechanism of membrane potential generation relies on the passage of mobile ions across the plasma membrane, which is selectively permeable to mobile ions. The existence of a membrane and the transport of ions across it are essential for the generation of membrane potential. However, a long-forgotten theory, Association-Induction hypothesis, asserts that the heterogeneous distribution of charges in space, due to ion adsorption, is the true cause of membrane potential generation. Using an artificial living cell model consisting of a viscous aqueous solution, the mechanism of membrane potential generation is restudied in this work. The results indicate that membrane potential can be generated even in the absence of a plasma membrane and that ion adsorption leading to a heterogeneous spatial charge distribution is an essential factor for membrane potential generation. Consequently, the authors invites people to reconsider the Association-Induction hypothesis as a genuine mechanism for generating membrane potential.
Keywords
membrane potential; membrane theory; Association-Induction Hypothesis; membrane permeability; ion adsorption
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Biophysics
Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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