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Concept information

Preferred term

membrane potential

Type

  • Topic

Definition

  • Information The voltage differences across a membrane. For cellular membranes they are computed by subtracting the voltage measured outside the membrane from the voltage measured inside the membrane. They result from differences of inside versus outside concentration of potassium, sodium, chloride, and other ions across cells' or organelles membranes. For excitable cells, the resting membrane potentials range between -30 and -100 millivolts. Physical, chemical, or electrical stimuli can make a membrane potential more negative (hyperpolarization), or less negative (depolarization).

Synonyms

  • resting membrane potential
  • resting potential
  • transmembrane potential

In other languages

URI

https://lod.nal.usda.gov/nalt/3910

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RDF/XML TURTLE JSON-LD Created 1/19/06, last modified 10/8/14