Posting this on a class discussion board is probably a bad idea, but nonetheless done.

---Christina said on 04/12/2007 20:55:04:---

i know this may sound awkward.. but is having acne or pimples is becuase that there is traffics and cause proteins can't go through the cell/plasma membrane?



---PcBY said on 04/12/2007 22:03:59:---

I thought it was because the blocked pores are infected. From what I've read, however, it seems that most kinds of acne is caused by some kind of narrowing of pore opening, resulting in blocked pores, preventing things that need to be excreted from being eliminated, which may or may not result in inflammation.

(This next paragraph got a little out of hand, the more I type.)
If proteins cannot go through the membrane, wouldn't lysosomes get rid of that excess stuff? If it doesn't, then the cell would burst from so much un-shipped goods (like viruses bursting out of a cell—just lovely). And then? Maybe the dead cells provide a great place for bacterial breeding...Further speculations down this road seems more strange, because if acne is caused by dead cells exploding, then what is causing them to explode throughout the area of effect (usually the face, but sometimes on other parts as well), in a rather well spaced-out manner? (Imagination plus not enough knowledge on the subject goes a long way.)

In any case, whatever that's causing acne would most likely travel by vesticles to the outside of the cell, so unless there is some serious mislabeling, not getting out seems to be a pretty unusual thing to me.

...(facepaw.)