In eukaryotic cells, the membranes of different intracellular organelles have different lipid composition, and various biomembranes show an asymmetric distribution of lipid types across the membrane bilayer. Membrane lipid organization reflects a dynamic equilibrium of lipids moving across the bilayer in both directions. In this review, we summarize data supporting the role of specific membrane...

( Asymmetric cellulose acetate membranes have been prepared and characterized in the laboratory with a view to use them in membrane bio-reactors. Enzymatic hydrolysis of sucrose has been investigated in a dead-end stirred cell type membrane bio-reactor using these membranes. Effect of different operating variables such as substrate concentration, enzyme loading, flow rate and working volume hav...

Asymmetric cell division is common in biology and plays critical roles in differentiation and development. Unicellular organisms are often used as model systems for understanding the origins and consequences of asymmetry during cell division. Although basic as compared to mammalian cells, these are already quite complex. We report complete budding and asymmetric fission of very simple nonliving...

Membrane proteins reside in a highly asymmetric environment compared to their cytosolic counterparts which gives them unique properties. Rather than being in a homogeneous aqueous solvent, the "solvent" that surrounds membrane proteins consists of the aqueous region outside the membrane, the ionic region of the membrane surface and the oily region of the membrane interior. These differing diele...

Over the past two decades a variety of mechanisms regulating cellular differentiation have been uncovered. These include signaling by morphogens or membrane-associated ligands and asymmetric segregation of cytoplasmic components. Most of these processes are driven by protein coding genes. Here I describe another possible cellular differentiation mechanism that involves asymmetric segregation of...