Extracellular dynamics at nm resolution in live cells.
We are all voyagers in time and space, and throughout history of human civilization, our quest to understand Nature has fueled our imagination to make the necessary inventions that further our perception of Nature, perceptions beyond the natural limits of our senses. For example, the invention of various telescopes for observing distant objects, and microscopes for perceiving the very small, has enabled discoveries of distant galaxies and planets light years away, and of the micrometer-size unit of life-the "Cell," and of its nanometer-size subcellular organelles. The story of cell secretion, a fundamental process as old as life itself, occurs in all organisms-from the simple yeast to cells in humans. In the last 15 years, primarily using the atomic force microscope-a force spectroscope, a detailed understanding of the molecular machinery and mechanism of secretion in cells has come to light. This has led to a paradigm shift in our understanding of the underlying mechanism of cell secretion. The journey leading to the discovery of the "porosome," a nanometer-size structure at the cell plasma membrane-the universal secretory machinery, and its structure and dynamics in live cells, is briefly discussed in this chapter.
Jena
Bhanu P
BP
Department of Physiology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan 48201, USA.
D000681:Amylases / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D021961:Cell Membrane Structures / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002469:Cell Separation; D002470:Cell Survival; D055724:Electrophysiological Phenomena; D005110:Extracellular Space / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008051:Lipid Bilayers / Q000378:metabolism; D008561:Membrane Fusion; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D046790:Pancreas, Exocrine / Q000166:cytology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013057:Spectrum Analysis; D013572:Synaptic Vesicles / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D013574:Synaptosomes / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure
D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D000681:Amylases