trafficking

DEFINITION:

Acting as a transporter.

intracellular vesicles

DEFINITION:

Vesicles within a cell.

membrane protein

DEFINITION:

A protein found in association with the cell membrane, either attached to (extrinsic or peripheral) or inserted in (intrinsic or integral) the membrane; possible roles include enzyme, receptor for a hormone or other molecule, and mediator of active or passive transport of lipid - insoluble substances across the membrane.

vesicles

DEFINITION:

1. Small bladders or sacs containing liquid.
2. Small circumscribed epidermal elevations, usually containing a clear fluid.

biological processes

DEFINITION:

A series of biological events or steps which lead to the achievement of a specific result; often used as a verb to designate subjection to such a series designed to produce desired changes in the original material (such as a change in metabolic activity upon living cells, caused by specific compounds or agents), or achieve other result.

trafficking

DEFINITION:

Acting as a transporter.

synaptic

DEFINITION:

1. Pertaining to or affecting a synapse.
2. Pertaining to synapsis.

vesicles

DEFINITION:

1. Small bladders or sacs containing liquid.
2. Small circumscribed epidermal elevations, usually containing a clear fluid.

transporters

DEFINITION:

Transport proteins; often specifically a transport protein that after binding one to several molecules of substrate, undergoes a conformational change that moves only the substrate across the membrane. Different types facilitate movement with (symport) and against (antiport) concentration gradients.

aquaporin

DEFINITION:

A family of membrane channel proteins that serve as selective pores through which water crosses the plasma membranes of many human tissues and cell types.

trafficking

DEFINITION:

Acting as a transporter.

actin

DEFINITION:

A protein of the myofibril, localized in the I band; acting along with myosin particles, it is responsible for the contraction and relaxation of muscle. In the absence of salt, it becomes globular (G-actin), and in the presence of potassium chloride and adenosine triphosphate it polymerizes, forming long fibers (F-actin).

regulated

DEFINITION:

1. Having been adjusted to a certain standard.

2. In biology, describing the adaptation of form or behavior of an organism to changed conditions.

focus

DEFINITION:

1. The point of convergence of light rays or of the waves of sound.

2. The chief center of a morbid process.

motility

DEFINITION:

1. Spontaneous movement.

translocation

DEFINITION:

A structural chromosome aberration in which one segment of a chromosome is transferred to a nonhomologous chromosome, the result of breakage of both chromosomes with repair in abnormal arrangement.

actin

DEFINITION:

A protein of the myofibril, localized in the I band; acting along with myosin particles, it is responsible for the contraction and relaxation of muscle. In the absence of salt, it becomes globular (G-actin), and in the presence of potassium chloride and adenosine triphosphate it polymerizes, forming long fibers (F-actin).

intracellular

DEFINITION:

Situated or occurring within a cell or cells.

exocytosis

DEFINITION:

1. The discharge from a cell of particles that are too large to diffuse through the wall; the opposite of endocytosis.

2. The aggregation of migrating leukocytes in the epidermis as part of the inflammatory response.

fusion

DEFINITION:

1. The act, process, or result of melting.

2. The merging or coherence of adjacent parts or bodies.

3. The coordination of the separate images of the same object in the two eyes into one.

4. The operative formation of an ankylosis or arthrodesis.

plasma membrane

DEFINITION:

The structure enveloping a cell, enclosing the cytoplasm, and forming a selective permeability barrier; it consists of lipids, proteins, and some carbohydrates, the lipids thought to form a bilayer in which integral proteins are embedded to varying degrees.

endocytosis

DEFINITION:

The uptake by a cell of material from the environment by invagination (infolding) of its plasma membrane; it includes both phagocytosis and pinocytosis.

aquaporin-2

DEFINITION:

Also called WCH-CD, this water channel makes the principal cells of the inner medullary collecting duct in the kidneys more permeable to water. Lack of functional aquaporin-2 gene leads to a rare form of nephrogenic diabetes insipidus.

trafficking

DEFINITION:

Acting as a transporter.