821 Transport of charged solutes through charged pores
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Recent experimental study using cultured endothelial cells indicated that the albumin uptake for endothelial cells with a neutralized (no charge) glycocalyx layer was almost twice that of control cells with negatively charged layer. This experiment together with previous in vivo studies suggests a major effect of electrical charges on the solute permeability across microvessel walls. As a basis to understand this mechanism, we have developed an electrostatic model for the transport of charged solutes through small cylindrical pores with a surface charge, and examined numerically the charge effect on the solute transport when the concentration difference of the solutes is present across the pore. By taking into account the interaction energy between the solute and pore surface charges, we have estimated the diffusive permeability to the solutes, as a function of the surface charges, the ion concentration of the fluid, and the radius ratio of the solutes and the pore. It was found that when the solute and the pore have surface charges of the same sign, the diffusive permeability is reduced significantly even for small Debye length compared to electrically neutral cases.
