Osmotic shock or
osmotic stress is a sudden change in the
solute concentration around a
cell, causing a rapid change in the movement of water across its
cell membrane. Under conditions of high concentrations of either
salts,
substrates or any solute in the
supernatant, water is drawn out of the cells through
osmosis. This also inhibits the transport of substrates and cofactors into the cell thus “shocking” the cell. Alternatively, at low concentrations of solutes, water enters the cell in large amounts, causing it to swell and either burst or undergo
apoptosis.