Exam 2: January 23-27 Flashcards
what are the functions of the plasma membrane?
1) it’s the boundary around our cell that acts as a discriminating barrier
2) it binds chemical messengers through the proteins on the surface of the cell
3) it sets cell characteristics such as shape and motility
how does the plasma membrane set cell characteristics?
it can set the shape and motility
cells can move themselves sometimes instead of being immobile
it can also be a connection to other cells which is needed to make tissues which turn into organs
also connects cells with the EC matrix
what are the components of the plasma membrane?
1) phospholipids
2) cholesterol
3) proteins
4) glycocalyx
what form does the plasma membrane have?
it’s a fluid mosaic model
you expect it to be constantly moving and made of lots of components
what are phospholipids?
part of the plasma membrane - the main building block of the PM
it has a polar head with 2 non polar tails = amphipathic
polar heads like being associated with intercellular fluid while tails don’t so they group together and bond due to hydrophobic bonding and a bilayer forms spontaneously
what is cholesterol?
part of the plasma membrane
1:1 relationship with the phospholipids
how does cholesterol prevent certain molecules from getting through the PM?
small polar molecules can’t go through the membrane as easily
Na+ get’s bounced easily by the hydrophobic tails because it’s charged however, water isn’t charged but it’s polar and it can slip through the gaps in the membrane but cholesterol fills those gaps
what function does cholesterol serve?
increases stiffness of the PM
allows for controlled bending of phosphomembrane and without cholesterol you couldn’t make a sphere shape
also helpful for vesicle formation!
what is a protein?
1:50 ratio with phospholipids but they’re actually half the mass of the plasma membrane aka they’re really big
what are the two types of proteins?
1) integral
2) peripheral
what are integral proteins?
ALWAYS amphipathic because part of it is in the phospholipid membrane and the other is associated with the interstitial/intercellular fluid
most are transmembrane proteins but not always
cannot be removed from the membrane without destroying the PM
what are the types of integral proteins?
1) channels
2) receptors
what are channels?
a type of protein which allow polar compounds to cross the membrane without having to associate with the non polar region
what are receptors?
a type of protein that is on the surface of the cell and receives signals and can also be anchors
what are peripheral proteins?
predominantly on the intracellular cellular fluid side aka the inside of the cell
can impact the shape and motility of the cell
proteins on the outside are extracellular matrix proteins
what is the glycocalyx?
the branch sugar structures that we find on the extracellular fluid side of our membrane - we don’t see it on the inside
it can be attached to phospholipids and integral proteins
causes a fuzzy appearance – glycocalyx is 3D and you can only focus on one plane at a time so it’s easy to focus in inside of PM but not the outside with a microscope
what are the functions of the glycocalyx?
1) identification
2) mechnical protection
3) limits cell growth
how does the glycocalyx serve as identification?
the glycocalyx on Bronson’s cells are different than mine
how does the glycocalyx serve as mechanical protection?
glycocalyx kind of stick out and look like hairs on our arm and they help us to prevent things from getting to our skin so the glycocalyx gives us mechanical protection for our cells so things can’t get to integral proteins or our phospholipids
how does the glycocalyx limit cell growth?
it limits how close cells can be to each other so it limits cell growth
what are junctions?
direct linkage of cells
what are the types of junctions?
1) gap junctions
2) desmosomes
3) tight junctions
what are gap junctions?
they are direct linkages that are small channels created by proteins called connexons
it’s multiple connexons that help make the gap junction
not that strong
what are gap junctions made by?
proteins called connexons