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Determination of cells' water membrane permeability: Unexpected high osmotic permeability of Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Author(s) -
de Marañón I. Martínez,
Gervais P.,
Molin P.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
biotechnology and bioengineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.136
H-Index - 189
eISSN - 1097-0290
pISSN - 0006-3592
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0290(19971005)56:1<62::aid-bit7>3.0.co;2-t
Subject(s) - saccharomyces cerevisiae , permeability (electromagnetism) , membrane , yeast , osmotic shock , chemistry , mixing (physics) , membrane permeability , biophysics , osmotic pressure , chromatography , biology , biochemistry , physics , quantum mechanics , gene
Water permeability (Lp), calculated from the volume variations of cells subjected to an osmotic shock, is classically used to characterize cell membrane properties. In this work, we have shown the importance of the kind of mixing reactor used to measure the Lp parameter. A mathematical model including the mixing time constant has been proposed allowing an accurate Lp estimation even though the mixing time constant is higher than the cell time constant obtained in response to a perfect shock. The estimated Lp values of human leukemia K562 cells were found to be the same whatever the mixing time constant. The Lp value of Saccharomyces cerevisiae could not be exactly estimated. However, S. cerevisiae has unexpectedly high water permeability, implying that this yeast may contain water channels in the membrane. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Biotechnol Bioeng 56: 62–70, 1997.