Carbon dioxide transport across membranes.

ABSTRACT: Carbon dioxide (CO₂) movement across cellular membranes is passive and governed by Fick's law of diffusion. Until recently, we believed that gases cross biological membranes exclusively by dissolving in and then diffusing through membrane lipid. However, the observation that some membranes are CO₂ impermeable led to the discovery of a gas molecule moving through a channel; namely, CO₂ diffusion through aquaporin-1 (AQP1). Later work demonstrated CO₂ diffusion through rhesus (Rh) proteins and NH₃ diffusion through both AQPs and Rh proteins. The tetrameric AQPs exhibit differential selectivity for CO₂ versus NH₃ versus H₂O, reflecting physico-chemical differences among the small molecules as well as among

SUBMITTER: Michenkova M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7898146 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature