protonbuffering
Protonbuffering is the ability of a chemical or biological system to resist changes in proton concentration, and thus pH, when exposed to acids or bases. In chemistry and biochemistry, protonbuffering is achieved by buffer systems that can donate or accept protons within a specific pH range. Common biological buffers include bicarbonate/carbon dioxide, phosphate, and various intracellular buffers such as titratable groups on proteins. Each buffer has a characteristic pKa, and maximal buffering capacity occurs near that pKa.
In living systems, protonbuffering operates at multiple levels. Intracellular buffering uses amino and carboxyl groups on
The effectiveness of protonbuffering depends on the total amount of buffering agents and their distribution, as
Applications include designing laboratory buffers for biochemical assays, maintaining pH in cell culture, and understanding clinical