Life at the Cell and Below-Cell Level. The Hidden History of a Fundamental Revolution in Biology
by
Gilbert N. Ling, Ph.D.
Pacific Press
2001
ISBN 0-9707322-0-1
"Dr. Ling is one of the most inventive biochemist I have ever met."
Prof. Albert Szent-Györgyi, Nobel Laureate
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A Super-Glossary
for Words, Terms and Basic Concepts Used in the Book
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backbone: the polypeptide chain of a protein minus the side chains.
Baur's ion adsorption potential theory: the theory of steady phase-boundary electric potential proposed by E. Baur. In Baur's concept of adsorption—as was virtually universal at his time— the adsorbed entities are not stuck on localized sites but are mobile at the (oil-water) interface. (See Langmuir adsorption isotherm and close-contact
adsorption).
β- and γ-carboxyl
groups: When a pair of dicarboxylic amino acids, aspartic and glutamic acids are incorporated into the polypeptide chain of a protein, they endow the protein with two negatively charged side chains, one in the form of the p-carboxyl group of the aspartic acid residue and the other in the form of the y-carboxyl group of the glutamic acid residue.
β50asp-β73asp: a symbol used in this volume to denote a specific pair of nearest-neighboring aspartic residues at position 50 and 73 respectively on the p-chains of human hemoglobin.
β-galactoside permease: a protein isolated from E. coli and seen by some investigators as an inward lactose pump transporting lactose and other p-galactosides into E. coli cells against concentration gradients (See lac operon).
β-pleated sheet conformation: An extended polypeptide may form H-bonds with its neighboring polypeptide chains and together form a flat sheet. There are two ways how this can be done: with the NH-CHR-CO all in the same direction (parallel chains) or in opposite direction (antiparallel chains). The antiparallel chain is that ascribed to the p-form of the keratin-myosin groups of fibrous protein, and also of silk and is known as the P-pleated-sheet conformation.
Beggiatoa mirabilis: the name of a sulfur bacteria.
Berthelot-Nernst distribution law: If to a system of two immiscible liquid phases I and II in direct contact, a third substance, S, soluble in both liquid phases, is introduced and the equilibrium concentrations of S in the two phases are represented respectively as
Is and IIs, then the equilibrium concentration ratio,
(Is/IIs) (the distribution coefficient or partition coefficient), is a constant regardless of the concentration of S. In the special case where S is a gas, the distribution law (also referred to as partition law) is known as Henry's law.
BET theory: the theory of multilayer water sorption proposed by Brunauer, Emmett and Teller, bearing the initials of their respective last names.
bifacial cells: cells with two different kinds of surfaces or membranes, usually making up sheets of single cell layers separating two different media Examples: epithelial cells of frog skin and of kidney tubules.
billiard type of triplet route: a mode of entry of an external ion into a living cell or model system where beside the fixed ion and the entrant ion, a third ion of the same polarity as the entrant ion is involved If this third ion comes from the opposite side as the entrant ion, the triplet route belongs to the billiard
type (occurs also in exit).
binding constant: a constant that measures the strength of binding of ligand to a binding site.
bioelectrical potential: electric potentials transient or lasting, measured across different loci in a living organism The most widely studied bioelectric potentials are the resting potential and the action potential of nerves and muscle cells.
blood plasma: the cell-free liquid of normal blood.
Bohr effect: change of the oxygen affinity of hemoglobin with a change in the pH of the medium.
Born-charging method: the method of evaluating the association energy between a fixed ion and its free counterion by evaluating the work performed when the counterion is brought from infinity to its location of closest association—as used by physicist Max Born
bound water: water bound to colloids by unspecified mechanisms, producing attributes different from that of normal liquid water (For history and details, see Ref. 64 pp.
278-306).
bovine serum albumin: a protein isolated from cow's blood It has a molecular weight of 64,000 and is made of 582 amino acid residues all in a single chain.
Boyle's Law: At constant temperature the volume (V) of a definite mass of gas is inversely proportional to the pressure (P). PV = constant. Law due to English physicist-chemist, Robert Boyle (1627-1691).
Br86-efflux analysis method: one of the methods used to determine the extracellular space of frog
sartorius muscles.
Bradley multilayer adsorption isotherm: a theoretical equation published by R. S. Bradley in 1936, relating the adsorptive uptake of multiple layers of gaseous molecules (with a permanent dipole moment, e.g., water vapor) on polar surfaces at various partial vapor pressures at an unchanging temperature (Equation A2 in Appendix 1)
butyltrimethylammonium ion: a quaternary ammonium ion.
Bryopsis plumosa: a marine plant.
bulk-phase limited diffusion: In contrast to a surface-limited diffusion in which the rate-limiting step of the diffusion is at the surface, in a bulk-phase limited diffusion the rate-limiting step is not confined to a specific location but exists throughout the bulk-phase of the diffusion medium. c-value: a quantitative parameter introduced as part of the AI Hypothesis Rigorously defined elsewhere (see text), it is to a first approximation the electron density of the singly charged oxygen atom of an oxyacid group. The c-value of an oxyacid group represents the electronic variable underlying the different acid dissociation constants or pK values. Weak acid with high pK has a higher c-value; strong acid with low pK has a lower c-value.
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