Cell Processes Flashcards
What is the membrane structure?
Made out of a polar head and non polar tails (heads are at the outside and the tails are in the inside - tail to tail)
Proteins embedded within.
Describe the membrane structure.
A thin 8nm flexible and sturdy barrier that surrounds the cytoplasm of a cell
What model describes the membrane structure?
Fluid mosaic model
- Sea of lipids in which proteins float like icebergs
What are the %s of lipid and protein and what are they held together by?
50% lipid
50% protein
- held together by H bonds
What do the membrane structure do (lipid)?
Lipid is a barrier to entry and exit of polar substances
WHo are the gatekeepers of in the lipid bilayer?
Proteins embedded – regulate traffic
Are polar heads hydrophilic/phobic?
HydroPHILIC
Describe the lipid bilayer of the cell membrane.
2 back to back layers of 3 types of lipid molecules
- Cholesterol and glycolipids scattered among a double row of phospholipid molecules
What determines the different permeability properties of lipid bilayer?
Composition of lipids will change between cells give you a type of lipid bilayer which will change their permeability properties.
What are phospholipids comprised of?
75% lipids
Amphipathic molecules
What does amphipathic mean?
Each molecule is amphipathic meaning have non polar and polar region.
What is the distance between the polar heads in the bilayer?
9nm between the polar heads
What is the hydrophobic core?
Non polar tails the key which forms the structure the barrier for the permeability of molecules.
Are membrane fluid or rigid?
Membranes are fluid and lipids can move around within the plane of the membrane leaflet
How can the lipid composition of the leaflets be asymmetric?
Because lipids barely flip flop between membrane leaflets
What is a leaflet?
One side of the bilayer (red and white)
What does leaflet assymetric mean?
One side is all red and the other is all yellow (cannot mix red yellow in one leaflet)
What are the factors affect the fluidity of the membrane?
Lipid tail length
Number of double bonds
AMount of cholesterol
How does lipid tail length affect fluidity?
The longer the tail, the less fluid the membrane
How does number of double bonds affect the fluidity?
more double bonds, the more fluid the membrane is
How does amount of cholesterol affect fluidity
The more cholesterol the more fluid the membrane is.
Integral proteins are…
extend into or completely across cell membrane
What is the name of integral proteins which extend completely into the cell membrane?
Transmembrane protein
What are some examples of integral proteins and which ones are transmembrane?
- Integral protein (through only one leaflet)
- curly one
- channel one
- receptor looking one
What are peripheral proteins?
attached to either inner our outer surface of cell membrane and are easily removed form it
Why are peripheral proteins easily removable?
Break bonds in ionic strength so protein to protein interactions are broken and can remove.
Change the ionic concentration
integral protein acting as anchor
How do you remove integral proteins?
Detergent is used to break hydrophobic bonds between the proteins and the lipid.
What are the two types of protein membrane?
Peripheral
Integral (inclu. Transmembrane)
Which protein membrane is responsible for cell movement of molecules?
Integral protein
Are integral proteins amphipathic?
Yea
Have hydrophobic region that span the hydrophobic core of the lipid bilayer
What are hydrophobic regions usually comprised of>
Usually consists of non polar amino acids cooilded into helices
What interacts with aqueous solution?
Hydrophilic ends of the proteins interact with the aqueous solution
What are the function of membrane proteins?
Receptor protein Cell identity markers Liners Enzymes Ion channels Transport proteins
Which molecules can freely move through the cell membrane?
- Non-polar uncharged molecules (O2, N2)
- lipid soluble molecules (steroids, fatty acids, some vitamins)
- Small polar molecules (water, urea, glycerol, CO2)
What cannot pass through the membrane?
- Large uncharged polar molecules (glucose, amino acids)
- Small charged ions (K+ Na+ CL- H+)
What is the direction determined by (the movement of the particles)
Laws of physics
What is diffusion?
Movement of particles/ions down their concentration gradient until the system has reached equilibrium
What affects the rate of diffusion? Difference of conc between the 2 sides:
The greater the difference in conc between the 2 sides of the membrane, the faster the rate of diffusion
What affects the rate of diffusion? Increase temp
The higher the temperature, the faster the rate of diffusion