Chapter 7: Membrane Structure and Function Flashcards
What are saturated fatty acid tails about how do they affect membrane fluidity?
- Phospholipids
- They have a regular structure
- Single bonds between carbons
^ closely packed, therefore less fluid
If there’s more saturated fatty acid tails, the membrane is _____ fluid.
Less
What are unsaturated fatty acid tails about how do they affect membrane fluidity?
- Phospholipids
- They have kinks
- Double bonds between carbons
^ loosely packed, therefore more fluid
If there’s more unsaturated fatty acid tails, the membrane is _____ fluid.
More
What is the purpose of cholesterol in the membrane?
Helps maintain fluidity
How and when does cholesterol decrease fluidity?
At warm temperatures when the membrane is too fluid, cholesterol will get in the way of the fatty acid tails and they will bump into each other, decreasing the fluidity.
How and when does cholesterol increase fluidity?
At cold temperatures when the membrane is rigid, cholesterol gets in the way of phospholipids and prevents them from touching and becoming too rigid, increasing fluidity.
What is a transmembrane (integral) protein?
Large proteins that sit through the membrane
- have hydrophobic and hydrophilic regions
What are peripheral proteins?
Smaller proteins that either sit on the inside of the membrane (towards the cell) or the outside of the membrane (towards the outside).
(Never actually inside the membrane phospholipid bilayer)
- hydrophilic
What factors affect membrane fluidity?
- Concentration of unsaturated phospholipids
- Concentration of cholesterol
- Protein content
- more proteins = less fluid
- less proteins = more fluid
- Temperature
- high temp = more fluid
- low temp = less fluid
What characteristics do substances need to have in order to permeate through the membrane?
- small
- nonpolar / hydrophobic
- no charges
What is passive transport?
Solutes move from high to low
- Does not require energy
From:
•• |
•• | H2O
•• |
To:
• | •
• | •
• | •
Na+ ions flow directly across the plasma membrane faster than CO2
True or false
False
Na+ is polar.
Therefore, hydrophobic.
Therefore, it is problematic and will flow slower than CO2.
Why can’t water do passive transport? What does it do instead to cross the membrane?
Because water is polar, hydrophilic, and it had charges.
Therefore, it does Osmosis.
What is osmosis?
When water diffuses from the solution with lower concentration of solute to the solution with higher concentration of solute
Water moves from:
High conc. —> low conc.