ArticleBiophysical journal2009
The hydrogel nature of mammalian cytoplasm contributes to osmosensing and extracellular pH sensing.
Article in Biophysical journal, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers.
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Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 74 citations in OpenAlex.
- Assembling Lipid Membrane Scaffolds on Microgel-Based Artificial Cells through Vesicle Fusion onto the Hydrogel Network.ACS nano · 2026Article
- Subcellular localization of enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of digoxin inFrontiers in plant science · 2026Article
- Macromolecular Crowding in Cell Stress and Death.Sub-cellular biochemistry · 2025Review
- The role of water in reactions catalysed by hydrolases under conditions of molecular crowding.Biophysical reviews · 2023Review
- Hydrogels as functional components in artificial cell systems.Nature reviews. Chemistry · 2022Review
- In vivo macromolecular crowding is differentially modulated by aquaporin 0 in zebrafish lens: Insights from a nanoenvironment sensor and spectral imaging.Science advances · 2022Article
- Poroelastic osmoregulation of living cell volume.iScience · 2021Article
- Spatially and optically tailored 3D printing for highly miniaturized and integrated microfluidics.Nature communications · 2021Article
- IonoBiology: The functional dynamics of the intracellular metallome, with lessons from bacteria.Cell systems · 2021Review
- Behavior and mechanics of dense microgel suspensions.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2020Article
- Cells in New Light: Ion Concentration, Voltage, and Pressure Gradients across a Hydrogel Membrane.ACS omega · 2020Article
- Zwitterion and Oligo(ethylene glycol) Synergy Minimizes Nonspecific Binding of Compact Quantum Dots.ACS nano · 2020Article
- Cell Volume Changes and Membrane Ruptures Induced by Hypotonic Electrolyte and Sugar Solutions.Frontiers in physiology · 2020Article
- Causal roles of mitochondrial dynamics in longevity and healthy aging.EMBO reports · 2019Review
- Reversible solidification of fission yeast cytoplasm after prolonged nutrient starvation.Journal of cell science · 2019Article
- Coupled Response of Membrane Hydration with Oscillating Metabolism in Live Cells: An Alternative Way to Modulate Structural Aspects of Biological Membranes?Biomolecules · 2019Article
- Is a constant low-entropy process at the root of glycolytic oscillations?Journal of biological physics · 2018Article
- The dynamics of intracellular water constrains glycolytic oscillations in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.Scientific reports · 2017Article
- Electrodiffusion phenomena in neuroscience: a neglected companion.Nature reviews. Neuroscience · 2017Review
- Visualizing the Histotripsy Process: Bubble Cloud-Cancer Cell Interactions in a Tissue-Mimicking Environment.Ultrasound in medicine & biology · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Cytoplasm is thought to have many hydrogel-like characteristics, including the ability to absorb large amounts of water and change volume in response to alterations in external environment, as well as having limited leakage of ions and proteins. Some gel-like behaviors have not been rigorously confirmed in mammalian cells, and others should be examined under conditions where gel volume can be accurately monitored. Thus, possible contributions of cytoplasm hydrogel properties to cellular processes such as volume sensing and regulation remain unclear. We used three-dimensional imaging to measure volume of single substrate-attached cells after permeabilization of their plasma membrane. Permeabilized cells swelled or shrinked reversibly in response to variations of external osmolality. Volume changes were 3.7-fold greater than observed with intact cells, consistent with cytoplasm's high water-absorbing capacity. Volume was maximal at neutral pH and shrunk at acidic or alkaline pH, consistent with pH-dependent changes of protein charge density and repulsive forces within cellular matrix. Volume shrunk with increased Mg(2+) concentration, as expected for increased charge screening and ionic crosslinking effects. Findings demonstrate that mammalian cytoplasm resembles hydrogel and functions as a highly sensitive osmosensor and extracellular pH sensor. Its high water-absorbing capacity may allow rapid modulation of local fluidity, macromolecular crowding, and activity of intracellular environment.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.