Membranes 🧋 Flashcards
What is the roles of membranes
Compartmentalise
Signalling (detect change in environment)
Controlling transporting
How does phospholipid structure aid cell membrane
Acts as a barrier, stops water soluble molecules from leaking out and getting in unwanted
how to phospholipids contribute to membrane formation
aqueous environment means heads point outward creating bi layre
what type of reaction holds bilayer toghether
weak hydrophobic reactions between tails
how is fluidity beneficial to membrane function
allows for spontaneous breaking and reforming of membranes
how thick is the bilayre
approximately 7.5 nm
how do unsaturated fatty acid tails effect membranes
make it less stable and more fluid as less packed togheter
when would unsaturated fatty acid tails be useful
in extreme environments
why do phospolidips get chemically modified
to act as signalling molecules
how art phospilids chemically modified
moving within bilayer to activate other molecules
or being hydrolysed which releases smaller water soluble molecules that bind to specific receptors in cytoplasm
role of glycolipids
maintain stability of cell membrane and to facilitate cellular recognition
what do glycolipids act as
cell markers or antigens that can be recognised by immune cells
impact of shorter fatty acids
increase fluidity, less viscous
why are phospholipids fluid
due to them being in constant movement relative to one another
what is the fluid mosaic model
phospholipids free to move, creat viscous layre, proteins randomly arranged in bilayer, free to move within layre relative to each other
intergal (transmembrane proteins)
permantely attached and span across bilayer
peripheral proteins
temporarily attached and associate with surface of membrane
what structure do transmembrane proteins adopt
single helical or beta barrels forming channels
glycoproteins
intrinsic proteins with a carbohydrate attached, have a role in adhesion and signal transduction
how do glycoproteins act as a receptor
binding site for chemical signal
cholesterol
maintains integrity and mechanical stability
how does cholesterol affect fluidity
binds to fatty acid tail increasing packing of the membrane therefore reducing fluidity of membrane
what does cholesterol make membranes less permeable to
very small water soluble molecules that would otherwise pass freely
active transport
low to high conc active process requiring atp