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Diffusion and Biological Membrane Permeability. II

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2022

John M. Reiner
John M. Reiner*
Affiliation:
College of the City of New York
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Summary

A kinetic theory of permeability is developed both for the case where the cell membrane is a distinct phase and where it is simply the interface between cell and environment. A general expression for the diffusion current of a substance across the membrane is derived, which depends on two “coefficients of permeability” rather than one. Solubility and adsorption theories of permeability are shown to be special cases of the formulas. The permeability coefficients are expressed in terms of the difference of potential energy of the diffusing substance in the two phases; for a membrane of finite thickness they also involve the thickness, and the diffusion coefficient of the solute in the membrane.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 8 , Issue 1 , January 1941 , pp. 105 - 114
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association 1941

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References

Gellhorn, E. Das Permeabilitätsproblem. 1929. J. Springer.10.1007/978-3-642-90664-0CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lorentz, H. Theory of Electrons.Google Scholar
Rashevsky, N. Mathematical Biophysics, p. 73. 1938. University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Reiner, J. M. Diffusion and Biological Membrane Permeability, I. Growth, 1, 313–327. 1937.Google Scholar