Year: 2017
Type: article
Abstract: Regulation of the flow and movement of water is essential to the health and well-being of our bodies. Involving a diverse array of structures that range from molecular gatekeepers to tissue barriers, water flow and concentration are maintained at precise levels. However, in many instances we do not have a complete picture of how this works. A case in point is the arterial wall, which separates the luminal space of the artery, where water flow is highly directional and at high pressure, from the surrounding tissue, where the movement of water is diffusive and pressures are lower. To maintain the pressure difference across the arterial wall, the permeability of water through this barrier is necessarily low. Although the limited water permeability of the arterial wall has been measured extensively, it has remained unclear how this dedicated tissue structure is able to limit the flow of water or even which layer of the wall is responsible for the decrease in permeability. To solve this puzzle, a closer look at the water barrier is needed to bring the location of the water-blocking component into sharper view. …
[↵][1]1To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: epotma{at}uci.edu.
[1]: #xref-corresp-1-1
Authors: Richard C. Prince, Eric O. Potma
Institution: University of California, Irvine
Language: English
Subfield: Biophysics
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2608374619