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

A Super-Glossary 
for Words, Terms and Basic Concepts Used in the Book

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L

L-glucose: the enantiomorph (mirror image) of D-glucose Unlike the ubiquitous D-glucose, L-glucose is rarely if ever found in Nature.

L-glutamate: the anion of dissociated L-glutamic acid The sodium salt has long been used in China as a food additive and is marketed in more recent times under the name "Accent" in the US.

L-glutamic acid: HOOCCH2CH2CH(NH2)COOH, one of the common α-amino acids found in most protein hydrolysates.

lac-operon: a segment of the ring-like DNA of E. coli, which contains the base sequence coded for the synthesis of three proteins: β-galactosidase coded by the Z-gene, β-galactoside permease coded by the Y-gene and β-galactoside acetylase coded by the AC gene.

lactose: milk sugar Upon hydrolysis each mole of lactose yields one mole of D-galactose and one mole D-glucose.

lactose permease: See β-galactoside permease.

Langmuir adsorption isotherm: an equation describing the "hyperbolic" (See "hyperbolic" curve.) relationship between the concentration of free solute and that of its adsorbed form on localized sites, introduced in 1918 by Irving Langmuir (1881-1957) (For an illustrative example, see second term on the right-hand side of Equation A 10 in Appendix 1.)

Laplacian physics: French astronomer and mathematician, Marquis Pierre Simon de Laplace (1749-1827) was the last of the leading 18th century European mathematicians. His two great works one on the theory of probability and the other on celestial mechanics together showed how the study of astronomy and the development of mathematics were closely interwoven. Laplacian physics is just an expression for mathematically oriented physics.

latent heat of vaporization, heat of vaporization: the difference in the heat content or enthalpy of one mole of a substance in liquid and vapor forms at the same temperature and pressure.

Law of conservation of energy: Although energy may be converted from one form to another, it cannot be created or destroyed. This law was first introduced by H. von Helmholtz in 1847 when he was a military surgeon barely 26 years old. But Annalen, the major journal for physics, rejected his manuscript entitled "Über die Erihaltung der Kraft" ("On the Conservation of Energy"). However, he received warm praises from the military boss, who mistook his "Kraft" for military power.

Law of macroscopic neutrality: This law states that for any subject of macroscopic dimensions, the total number of positive charges it carries must be at all time essentially equal to the total number of negative charges it carries. A departure from this neutrality corresponding to a quantity of charged particles or ions far too small to be detected chemically would create an electrostatic potential far above what is compatible with known facts. The following example, modified after one given by E.A.Guggenheim,97 pp 330-331 shows why. Consider a spherical living cell 0.1 micron (10-4 cm or 10-6 m) in radius. Let us imagine that, against the Law of Macroscopic Neutrality, we removed a (minute) quantity of К+ equal to 10-18 mole from the cell. This removal leaves the cell with an excess of negative charges of 10-18 faradays or 0.965 × 105 × 10-18 = 9.65 × 10-14  coulombs. Now, the electric potential ψ of a charged sphere of radius r in an aqueous medium is determined by ψ = Q/εr, where Q is the electric charge and ε, the permittivity of the aqueous medium (equal to 78.5 × 1.11 × 10-10 coul./volt m =8.72 × 10-9 coul./volt m. at 25° C). Substituting the values, we have ψ = (9.65 × 10-14)/(8.72 × 10-9 × 105) = 11 volt. This is far above the electrical potential difference observed across normal living cells, which are in the range of 0.1 volt and lower. Assuming that this spherical cell contains the usual 100 mmoles/kg. of K+, the normal K+ content of the spherical cell is then (4/3)πr3 × 10-4 = 4.19 × (10-4)3 × 10-4 = 4.19 × 10-16 mole. The hypothetical quantity of K+ removed (10-18 mole) is thus only 10-18/(4.19 ×10-16) = 2.39 × 10-3 or 0.239% of the total cell K+. Nonetheless, removal of even this small a quantity of free cation by itself (unaccompanied by an equivalent amount of free anion or in exchange of an equivalent amount of free cation) is not permitted.

Law of parsimony: See Occam's razor.

Law of partition. Law of distribution: See Berthelot-Nemst distribution law.

Leucocyte, leukocyte: See white blood cell.

LFCH: See Ling's fixed charge hypothesis.

Li+: lithium ion, carrying a single positive electric charge.

libration: revolving around a primary object ligand: a group, ion or molecule coordinated to a central atom in a complex Example, oxygen in hemoglobin.

light microscopy: the use of, or investigations with microscopes magnifying and making visible small objects illuminated with ordinary light.

linear conformation: straight-line or fully-extended conformation usually referring to macromolecules like proteins, which may assume more than one conformation.

linear correlation coefficient: Usually represented by the letter, r, a linear correlation coefficient is a number varying from 0 to 1.0, which measures the closeness of the linear relationship between two variable Y and X. r2, called coefficient of determination, is a rough estimate of the proportion of the variation of Y that can be attributed to its linear regression on X.

linear regression analysis: a functional relationship between two variables often empirically determined is called regression When that relationship can be represented by a straight line, that regression is called linear. The statistical examination for a possible linear regression between two variables is called linear regression analysis.

linear model: a theoretical model (in the AI Hypothesis) of a singly charged oxygen atom of a fixed oxyacid anion interacting with a monovalent cation in which the free cation, the fixed oxyacid anion as well as a varying number of water molecules are arranged in a linear array.

linear polymer: a nonbranching long molecule built from many similar smaller units (called monomers) joined end-to-end.

linear protein: a protein existing in the fully-extended conformation.

Ling's fixed charge hypothesis, LFCH: a quantitative (statistical) theory of selective accumulation of K+ over Na+ in living cells and models, based on the theory of enhanced counterion association with a fixed ion carrying an opposite electric charge and preferential (one-on-one) selective adsorption due to stronger electrostatic interaction with the smaller hydrated К+ over the larger hydrated Na+ and associated concepts.

Ling's theory of enhancement of association through site fixation: See theory of enhancement of association through site fixation.

Ling-Walton centrifugation method: See centrifugation method.

living state: according to the AI Hypothesis, the high (negative) energy, low entropy state assumed by protoplasm and cells of all plants, animals and microbes between their birth and death

localized adsorption: a concept first introduced in 1916-1918 by Irving Langmuir, in which adsorption takes place at specific localized sites on solid surfaces.

lock and key analogy: first introduced by Emil Fischer to illustrate his concept that a substrate binds onto a site on an enzyme because the substrate fits the steric and geometric characteristics This concept was later extended to include drug action where drugs are like keys that fit onto stereospecific receptor site.

lone pair electrons: Each atom contains a nucleus carrying a certain number of positively charged protons and a matching number of negatively-charged electrons orbiting around the nucleus in groups of increasing number—except the outermost shell which cannot exceed eight. This is the well-known octet rule. When the outermost shell has 8 electrons, the maximum stability is reached as in the case of the noble gas, neon, for atoms of the first row of the periodic table, and argon for the second row. Thus of the eight electrons of the oxygen atom in H20, two single covalent bonds each with two electrons are formed, leaving four of the valence electrons unshared. Quantum mechanical treatment of valence shows that to form a covalent or electron pair bond, a stable orbital for each atom and two electrons with opposing spins are required. The most stable electronic structure of an atom is reached when all its stable orbitals are used either in electron pair bond formation or in occupancy by an unshared pair of electrons with opposing spins. In a water molecule, the two unshared pairs of electrons with opposing spins are examples of lone pair electrons.

long-range attributes: inherent characteristics that can be perceived from a distance away.

lymphocyte: a colorless weakly-motile cells produced in the lymph tissues and making up about 20-30% of the leukocytes of human blood.

lysine: a basic α-amino acid found in most protein hydrolysates When present in a protein as a lysine residue, it endows the protein with a fixed cationic ε-amino group.

lysine residue: Like almost all other α-amino acids, lysine possesses an α-amino group and an α-carboxyl group each attached to the first carbon or α-carbon atom. When lysine is incorporated into a polypeptide or protein, its α-amino group reacts with the α-carboxyl group of the immediately neighboring amino acid on one side to form a peptide bond (after losing a molecule of water) while its α-carboxyl group also forms a peptide bond (after losing a water molecule) with α-amino group of its neighboring amino acid residue on the other side. The reminder of the lysine residue forms the lysine residue's side chain. The lysine side chain carries a positively charged ε-amino group which is one of the important fixed cations of all proteins.

lysis: a process of disintegrating or dissolution (as of red blood cells).

Разделы книги
"Life at the Cell and Below-Cell Level.
The Hidden History of a Fundamental Revolution in Biology":

Contents (PDF 218 Kb)
Preface (
PDF 155 Kb)
Answers to Reader's Queries (Read First!) (
PDF 120 Kb)
Introduction

1. How It Began on the Wrong Foot---Perhaps Inescapably
2. The Same Mistake Repeated in Cell Physiology
3. How the Membrane Theory Began
4. Evidence for a Cell Membrane Covering All Living Cells
5. Evidence for the Cell Content as a Dilute Solution
6. Colloid, the Brain Child of a Chemist
7. Legacy of the Nearly Forgotten Pioneers
8. Aftermath of the Rout
9. Troshin's Sorption Theory for Solute Distribution
10. Ling's Fixed Charge Hypothesis (LFCH)
11. The Polarized Multilayer Theory of Cell Water
12. The Membrane-Pump Theory and Grave Contradictions
13. The Physico-chemical Makeup of the Cell Membrane
14. The Living State: Electronic Mechanisms for its Maintenance and Control
15. Physiological Activities: Electronic Mechanisms and Their Control by ATP, Drugs, Hormones and Other Cardinal Adsorbents
16. Summary Plus
17. Epilogue 

A Super-Glossary

List of Abbreviations
List of Figures, Tables and Equations
References (
PDF 193 Kb)
Subject Index
About the Author

A Super-Glossary
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