Kalvovetoinen

Kalvovetoinen is a Finnish adjective used primarily in the life sciences to describe molecules, structures, or processes that are associated with or bound to a cellular membrane (kalvo). The term is formed from kalvo, membrane, and vetoinen, a suffix indicating that something is carried or bound, yielding "membrane-bound". In scientific Finnish, kalvovetoinen is commonly applied to proteins, enzymes, receptors, and other components that function at or near the cell membrane. It is used to distinguish such components from cytosolic or soluble forms that operate within the cell interior.

In practice, expressions such as kalvovetoinen proteiini or kalvovetoinen reseptori appear in textbooks and research articles to specify membrane association. The word can describe both peripheral proteins that associate with the membrane surface and integral or multi-pass membrane proteins that span the bilayer, depending on context. The nuance between these categories is typically clarified with additional terms (for example peripheral membrane protein or transmembrane protein) rather than by kalvovetoinen alone.

English equivalents are usually membrane-bound or membrane-associated. When translating Finnish scientific texts, care should be taken to reflect whether the component is anchored to the membrane surface or embedded within the lipid bilayer.

See also: membrane protein, peripheral membrane protein, transmembrane protein, cytosolic protein.