AJP - Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, Vol 243, Issue 3 229-R240, Copyright © 1982 by American Physiological Society
Biological fluid membrane generates triggering cycle and homeostasis
Y. Schiffmann
A working engine has to operate in cycles, and at completion of a work
cycle it should revert to its initial state. The ubiquitous unit cycle in
medicine and physiology is characterized by a rapid upstroke followed by a
plateau, which is in turn followed by a quick restoration to a resting
state. So far, such cycles could not be derived from the basic laws of
chemistry, in particular from the law of mass action; but within the
context of a new biochemical control theory, which replaces the notion of
conformational change by redistribution in the membrane, such a cycle can
be derived from the law of mass action if the system is two dimensional,
namely if the biochemical reactions are restricted to an optimally fluid
membrane which is an open nonequilibrium system. The failure of this
universal mechanism for triggering cycle is suggested to be a universal
cause of disease. This failure involves abnormal membrane fluidity and
leakage of enzyme and receptor from the membrane.
