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Membrane, action, and oscillatory potentials in simulated protocells

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Abstract

Electrical membrane potentials, oscillations, and action potentials are observed in proteinoid microspheres impaled with (3 M KCl) microelectrodes. Although effects are of greater magnitude when the vesicles contain glycerol and natural or synthetic lecithin, the results in the purely synthetic thermal protein structures are substantial, attaining 20 mV amplitude in some cases. The results add the property of electrical potential to the other known properties of proteinoid microspheres, in their role as models for protocells.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. NFCR Laboratory of the Institute for Molecular and Cellular Evolution, University of Miami, 33134, Coral Gables, Florida

    Aleksander T. Przybylski, Wilford P. Stratten, Robert M. Syren & Sidney W. Fox

Authors
  1. Aleksander T. Przybylski
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  2. Wilford P. Stratten
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  3. Robert M. Syren
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  4. Sidney W. Fox
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Additional information

On leave from the Medical Research Centre, Warsaw, Poland

Visiting from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Terre Haute, IN 47803

This research was aided by Grant NGR 10-007-008 of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and by D. Rose. Contribution No. 354 of the Institute for Molecular and Cellular Evolution.

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Przybylski, A.T., Stratten, W.P., Syren, R.M. et al. Membrane, action, and oscillatory potentials in simulated protocells. Naturwissenschaften 69, 561–563 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00396351

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00396351

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