CELL MEMBRANE STRUCTURES AD FUNCTIONS Cell Membrane structure

Functions of Membranes
 Serves as Permeability barriers - selective
 Boundary for external environment - unicellular
 Sites of specific functions
 Regulates the transport of solute
 Detects and transmits electrical and chemical
signals
 Mediates cell-to-cell communication (cell
junctions)

Development of the fluid mosaic model

Features of the membranes

 Defines the boundaries of the cell and its
various internal compartments – all are double
membrane bound organelles in eukaryotic cells
except lysosomes
 Double-layered (phospholipid bilayer)
 Chemically- diverse – made up of phospholipids
Fluid mosaic model
and proteins

The Prominence of Membranes around and Within

Eukaryotic Cells
Lipid mobility Three major classes of membrane lipids

Movements of phospholipid molecules

A feature of Singer-
Nicolson model
Lateral mobility –
movement parallel to
membrane surface
Some membranes like
RBC can have restricted
Main classes of Membrane Lipids
mobility – one side of
 Phospholipids – most abundant
phospholipid layer can
o Phosphoglycerides (phophatidyl- forms)
be attached to ankyrins
o Sphingolipids – sphingomyelin in animal
(cytoskeleton)
cells
Protein mobility
 Glycolipids – (+) CHO in lipids
o Glycerol-based
o Others: glycosphingolipids
(CHO+sphingolipids)
o CEREBROSIDES (galactose) and
GANGLIOSIDES (sialic acid)
 Sterols – membrane fluidity

Tay-Sachs Disease – genetic impaired metabolism of

this lipids, (-) β-N-acetylhexosaminidase A in
lysosomes; leads to ganglioside accumulation in the
nervous system.
 Cognitive impairment, severe mental deterioration
& death

Effect of Unsaturated FAs on the packing of membrane

lipids

Presence of fluid enhances exchange

Presence of cholesterol enhances mobility
Membrane lipids
 Membranes contain several major classes of lipids
(phospholipids, glycolipids, sterols)
 Fatty acids are essential to membrane structure
and function
 Membrane asymmetry is due to unequal
distribution of lipids between the two monolayers
 Most lipids are free to move laterally (membrane
fluidity)
Phosphatidylcholine, a Membrane lipid with either.
Membrane Proteins
(a) two 18-carbon saturated fatty acids (stearate)
or
(b) two 18-carbon fatty acids, one saturated (stearate)
and the other with one cis double bond (oleate).
 Sterols – prominent components:
 Cholesterol (50% in animal CMs)
 Phytosterols (plants)
Less packed –more good for transport system
Form kinks = provide more spce (in double bond)

Natural Unsaturated FAs – cis forms

Processed Unsaturated FAs – trans forms
Trans forms – resembles sat FAs thus higher tendency
to pack in assembly. It increases membrane transition Freeze-fracture analysis of membranes
T°, decreases membrane fluidity.

Sterols: Membrane fluidity

 Sterol intercalation in phospholipid bilayer
membrane Cholesterol - acts as a fluidity buffer,
moderating the:
- Effect of high TEMP : low membrane fluidity
- - Effect of low TEMP : high membrane
fluidity
 Sterols effectively prevents the HC chains of Different types of membrane proteins (4 integral, 3
phospholipids from fitting snugly together with peripheral)
decreased T° (reduces membranes to “gel”). GPI glycosylphosphatidylinositol - cell membrane
 Sterols – fill in spaces between hydrocarbon chains GPI-anchored peripheral proteins – released by
of membrane phospholipids, thereby plugging small Phospholipase C for phosphatidylinositol linkages.
channels that ions and small molecules might pass AMPs antimicrobial peptides-act like detergents
through, decreasing membrane permeability to ions disrupting membrane structure causing holes to destroy
and small polar molecules. permeability & kill cells; also anti-viral in membrane
 In general: A lipid bilayer containing sterols is less enclosed viruses like HIV.
permeable to ions and small molecules than is a Protein is not directly attached to the phospholipid
bilayer lacking sterols. bilayer there is an anchor.
Transmembrane is integral but integral is not
Yeasts and Plants transmembrane .
 O2 solubility in the cytoplasm during low
temperature. Oxygen is a substrate for the RBC membrane protein – simplest membrane
desaturase enzyme system involved in the
generation of unsaturated FAs.
 With more dissolved oxygen available at lower
temperatures – Enhanced rate of unsaturated fatty
acids synthesis
 Membrane fluidity increases - offsetting the
temperature effect.
Glycophorins – single pass, cell receptors Facilitated diffusion (carrier):
(CHO: carbohydrates)  GLUT1 – carrier protein, there is more
Peripheral CHONS (protein): concentration of glucose from the outside (high to
 Ankyrin –cytoskeleton, peripheral low), uniport direction.
 Spectrin-cytoskeleton. Part of the membrane  Anion exchange protein – antiport direction
protein because it is attached to membrane
components. Without this the cell would be Responses of plant and animal cells to changes in
degraded osmolarity
 Band 4.1 proteins - connects spectrin. Protein
for connecting
 Band 3 protein - dimers-anion exhange CHON,
connects Ankyrin. Protein for binding
Cytoskeleton = forms the matrix of the cell; it provides
shape

RBC membrane proteins

Some membranes like that of RBC can have restricted
mobility – one side of
phospholipid layer can be
attached to ankyrins
(cytoskeleton).
The Glycocalyx of an Intestinal
Epithelial Cell
GLYCOSYLATED PROTEINS =
protein + sugar
 Signal transduction
 Receptors; coating
mechanism: glycocalyx
Hypertonic solution - Hypertonic solutions will have a
higher concentration of solute (glucose, salt, etc) than
the cell. Mainly water will move across the cell
membrane in order to even out the concentration of
solutes in both the cell and the environment around the
cell. The cell will shrink as water leaves the cell to
decrease the higher concentration of solute in the
environment.
The best example of a hypertonic solution would be the
oceans, because the solutes (salts) outside of the cells
are greater than inside of the cells.

Transport mechanisms Hypotonic solution - Hypotonic environments will have

Simple Diffusion – water and gases. No need for a
carrier and energy
Facilitated diffusion – needs a carrier protein
Carrier proteins: glucose & bicarbonates
Channel proteins: water
Active transport (all cells will do this)
(+) ATP expenditure
voltage-gated channel proteins
Facilitated diffusion (channel):
 Aquaporin – a channel, they require a channel
because they need more volume of water.
a lower concentration of solute than the cell. Water will
move from the environment into the cell in order to
balance the concentration of solute. When water
diffuses into the cell it will swell. Sometimes the cell
may lyse or burst due to the excess water uptake.
Freshwater habitats are examples of hypotonic
solutions because the freshwater has less solutes than
inside of the cells and swimming in the pool.
In plant cells, the central vacuoles will fill and the plant
becomes stiff and rigid, the CELL WALL keeps the plant
from bursting
In animal cells, the cell may be in danger of bursting,
organelles called CONTRACTILE VACUOLES will pump
water out of the cell to prevent this.
Isotonic solution - Isotonic environments have the same
concentration of solutes as the cell. Water will diffuse
both in and out of the cell, but no net effect will be
seen.
Isotonic solutions are commonly used in medical
situations. In IV fluid.
Facilitated diffusion
Diffusion of a substance across
a membrane.
It is "facilitated" –
- (+) transport protein
in the membrane
- enhances the
transport of the substance
across the membrane
Comparison of uniport and co-transport mechanisms
1-3 function ng cell membrane
4-5 2 kinds of proteins:
trans membrane/integral
intrinsic/extrinsic
6 simple diffusion
7 passive transport
8 active transport
9. ano daw nagreregulate ng water sa prokaryotes para
di mag burst : contractile vacoule
10 active transport
ESSAY: influence of solite concentration sa tonicity of
the cell
explain mo lang jan yung hypertonic, hypo, tska iso, na
kaya nangyayari yun to attain equilibrium. ;)

EXTRA NOTES:
The cell membrane is comprised of phospholipids and
proteins. The phospholipids are oriented so that their
hydrophilic, polar heads face outwards and their
hydrophobic, non-polar tails face inwards toward the
middle of the cell. Proteins dot the cell membrane to
allow solutes to be transported in and out of the cell
membrane.
The cell membrane is a biological membrane that
separates the interior of the cell from the outside
environment. It is selectively permeable and allows ions
and small polar molecules through via passive diffusion.
Large molecules such as proteins must be transported
into the cell via transmembrane or carrier proteins that
are embedded in the membrane. Cell membranes also
allow water to pass through them via osmosis. Cell
membranes are flexible and allow the cell to be fluid
and to maintain their volume as they change shapes.
They are also involved in a variety of cellular functions.
These include cell adhesion, ion conductivity and cell
signaling. Cell membranes can also be very diverse. In
eukaryotes, they are single-layered and follow the fluid
mosaic model. In prokaryotes, the cell membrane is
surrounded by an outer membrane. The cell membrane
and outer membrane are separated by a periplasmic
space. However, some prokaryotes have no cell
membrane at all