The Cell Periphery

THE interactions of cells with their environment, which may include other cells, are thought to a greater or lesser degree to involve the cell periphery. By the term periphery, we mean the three-dimensional, dynamic zone surrounding cells. We prefer to confine the use of the term cell surface to a two-dimensional planar structure such as the electrokinetic surface, and the term membrane to the part of the cell periphery involved in osmotic regulation. In tissues the limits of the cell periphery are ill defined in the sense that functionally it is not possible to delineate where the cell ends and . . .