Force Microscopy
Applications in Biology and Medicine
Chapter One
POROSOME: THE UNIVERSAL SECRETORY
MACHINERY IN CELLS
BHANU P. JENA
Department of Physiology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan
1.1. INTRODUCTION
Secretion and membrane fusion are fundamental
cellular processes regulating endoplasmic
reticulum (ER)-Golgi transport,
plasma membrane recycling, cell division,
sexual reproduction, acid secretion, and the
release of enzymes, hormones, and neurotransmitters,
to name just a few. It is therefore
no surprise that defects in secretion and
membrane fusion give rise to diseases such
as diabetes, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, acute
gastroduodenal diseases, gastroesophageal
reflux disease, intestinal infections due to
inhibition of gastric acid secretion, biliary
diseases resulting from malfunction of secretion
from hepatocytes, polycystic ovarian
disease as a result of altered gonadotropin
secretion, and Gitelman disease associated
with growth hormone deficiency and disturbances
in vasopressin secre ... read full excerpt from Force Microscopy: Applications in Biology and Medicine ebook
