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Intrinsic CO 2 Permeability of Cell Membranes and Potential Biological Relevance of CO 2 Channels
Author(s) -
Boron Walter F.,
Endeward Volker,
Gros Gerolf,
MusaAziz Raif,
Pohl Peter
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
chemphyschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.016
H-Index - 140
eISSN - 1439-7641
pISSN - 1439-4235
DOI - 10.1002/cphc.201100034
Subject(s) - membrane , aquaporin , permeability (electromagnetism) , cell permeability , membrane protein , membrane permeability , biophysics , biological membrane , chemistry , cell membrane , membrane transport , biochemistry , biology
The past dozen years has seen a series of papers that come to the conclusion that CO 2 passes through certain aquaporins and Rhesus proteins. The past three years has seen another series of papers that come to the conclusion that protein channels could not make a meaningful contribution to overall CO 2 membrane permeability because of a combination of: 1) a high CO 2 permeability of membrane lipids and 2) large unstirred layers, which would render their CO 2 resistance much higher than that of a biological membrane. Is this also true for a membrane crowded with proteins? This comment summarizes the current status of the debate.