So since gases like O2 can rapidly diffuse across the plasma membrane does that if I theoretically shot a beam of O2 gas at my hand would it travel all the at through my hand? If not what would stop it?
I'm (very gently) dissociating some frozen brain sections while trying to preserve as much of the soma as possible, and in order to evaluate how successful that was, I was thinking of staining for lipid membrane. Is there any reagent you would recommend for this? Or any other quick-check method to see how much of the actual cell body there still exists in the dissociation?
Thanks!
Here is the list of molecules: O2, CO2, H2O, viruses, glucose & NA^(+)
Here is my reasoning:
- O2 can pass through via passive diffusion because it is uncharged.
- CO2 can pass through via passive diffusion because it is uncharged.
- H2O can pass through via passive diffusion because it is uncharged.
- Viruses... These aren't cells so this is where I'm confused. If I'm thinking of this correctly, viruses require facilitated diffusion because they need receptor sites to get brought into the cell. Is this correct?
- Glucose is too large to pass through via passive diffusion.
- NA^(+) is an ion so it is charged meaning it cannot pass through via passive diffusion.
Did I get these right?
Are the phospholipids even chemically bonded? Is it the cytoskeleton that holds the membrane together? I put chemistry as the flair because I assume it's a chemical force hold the phospholipids of the plasma membrane of a cell together, but I have no idea.
