Biophysical Journal 13: 807-816 (1973)
© 1973 the Biophysical Society

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What Component of the Living Cell Is Responsible for Its Semipermeable Properties? Polarized Water or Lipids?

ABSTRACT

A close correlation (r = +0.96) exists between the permeability (at 0°, 4°, and 25°C) of H₂O and nine other hydroxylic nonelectrolytes through reversed frog skin and through synthetic cellulose-acetate sheets. By the method of least squares, the data yield the following relation: log (P_{frog skin}) = 0.9900 log (P_{cellulose acetate}) -0.1659. Both the reversed frog skin and the cellulose-acetate sheets are semipermeable (while the lipoid membrane is not), showing higher permeability to water than to any other solute used in this series. The data offer support for the theory that it is not lipid, but water polarized in multilayers by cellular proteins, that provides the living cell with its selective surface barrier.