title: Cellular microtransport processes: intercellular, intracellular, and aggregate behavior.
abstract: Ionic and molecular transfer among cells occurs by a variety of transport processes operative at different length scales. Cell membrane permeability and electrical conductance derive from channel proteins producing pores at the molecular (ultrastructural) scale. Intracellular mobility involves the dynamics of motion through the complex ultrastructure of the cytoplasm. These phenomena unite in the larger-scale (microscopic) process of gross intercellular transfer. When such movement occurs among sufficiently many cells, it in turn begins to reflect their average collective (macroscopic) behavior as bulk tissue. This article surveys selected aspects of intercellular and intracellular transport, with emphasis on detailed mechanistic theory, experimental probes of cellular permeability, and systematic transcendence from small to large length scales.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York 14260-4200, USA. nitsche@eng.buffalo.edu
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Nitsche
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001693:Biological Transport, Active; D001698:Biomedical Engineering; D002449:Cell Aggregation; D002450:Cell Communication; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D002468:Cell Physiological Phenomena; D005110:Extracellular Space / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007424:Intracellular Fluid / Q000378:metabolism; D007473:Ion Channels / Q000378:metabolism; D008954:Models, Biological; D055672:Static Electricity
chemical_list: D007473:Ion Channels