A Theory of Cell Hydration Predicated on Adsorption of Water on Cell Proteins

摘要

If it is postulated that cell hydration is governed by adsorption of water on cell proteins in accord with the Bradley adsorption isotherm and that the action of a solute in the surrounding solution is to lower the vapor pressure of the solution so that cell water adsorption is decreased by moving down the Bradley isotherm, then one may derive that cell volume (V) should be related to solute concentration (x) by the equation V = -Elog x + F where E and F are constants which are independent of type of solute. For a non-adsorbed solute, this agrees well with experimental data. For solutes which are adsorbed by cell proteins, a correction in the above equation may be necessary at higher solute concentrations, which is shown to be compatible with various experimental data. The types of experiments which are generally used to support the osmotic pressure theory of cell hydration agree equally well with the adsorption theory. The virtue of the adsorption theory is that, unlike the osmotic pressure theory of cell swelling, it is compatible with permeability of the cell membrane to solutes, which has been experimentally observed for various solutes. (Author)