Does the size of small objects influence chemical reactivity in living systems?
Previous theoretical works showed that chemical reactions in micro- and nano-droplets, bubbles and solid particles were strongly affected by their confinement. In particular, the smallness of the systems leads to high internal pressure compared to the external pressure, which then significantly modifies the values of chemical equilibrium and kinetic constants. In addition, surface tension or surface stress, reactional dilatation and surface charge play also a major role on the chemical reactivity. As living systems are also made of very complex dispersed subsystems, i.e. organelles, it seemed obvious to illustrate our theory by some biological actual examples encountered in pulmonary alveolae, in vacuolae and in medical applications, such as dissolution of gallstones.
