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Puzzles of Cell and Animal Physiology in View of the Chain-Ordering Transition in Lipid Membrane

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Phase Transitions in Cell Biology

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Abstract

The chapter discusses the concept of a membrane phase-transition- dependent (MPTD) elementary machine, implementing physiological functions in the cell. Synaptic exocytosis is among the most important functions, in which the highest perfection is achieved owing to the MPTD machine. The concept presents a unitary approach to different aspects of physiology and allows to answer a number of general unsolved questions, which have been puzzling investigators for decades. The following questions, among many, have been offered a reasonable answer: What is the biological expedience of homeothermy? Why is anaesthesia reversed by hydrostatic pressure, while the pressure itself causes immobilisation? What is the recovery function of sleep, and why is this function incompatible with the active state of warm-blooded animals?

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Biophysics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Institutskaya street 3, 142290 Pushchino, Russia

    D.P. Kharakoz

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  1. D.P. Kharakoz
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  1. Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, Box 355061, Seattle, WA 98195, USA

    Gerald H. Pollack

  2. PO Box 2039, Merced, CA 95344, USA

    Wei-Chun Chin

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Kharakoz, D. (2008). Puzzles of Cell and Animal Physiology in View of the Chain-Ordering Transition in Lipid Membrane. In: Pollack, G.H., Chin, WC. (eds) Phase Transitions in Cell Biology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8651-9_6

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