Midterm 1: Lec 4 Slides Flashcards
Importance of membranes (3)
- Permeability barrier that can transport certain molecules
- Important in cell response to external stimuli
- Involved in energy transduction
Biological membrane components (and their functions)
- Lipids: provide physical integrity
- Proteins: carry out specific functions
- Carbohydrates: recognition sites on cell surface
What influences fluidity of lipid bilayer?
Composition and temperature
- Lower temperature means more rigidity (goes through phase transition from fluid to gel)
- Phase transition temp. is lower if hydrocarbon chains are short or have double bonds
How does cholesterol orient itself in the bilayers of animal cells?
Polar head group close to polar head group of phospholipid; it intercollates
How do water-soluble molecules pass through the bilayer?
Presence of specific protein molecules
What does the fluid mosaic model explain?
How proteins are incorporated into lipid bilayer; carbs are attached to proteins or phospholipids on outer surface of plasma membrane
Integral proteins - what do they do?
Penetrate into lipid bilayer; most are transmembrane proteins
What are transmembrane proteins (type of integral protein)?
Contain alpha-helix of nonpolar amino acids extending across membrane’s hydrophobic interior
Where are peripheral proteins found?
Outside lipid bilayer on cytoplasmic surface, attached by noncovalent bonds to polar head groups of lipid bilayer or integral membrane proteins
Where are lipid-anchored proteins found?
Covalently attached to phospholipid or fatty acid embedded in the bilayer
3 classes of membrane proteins
Integral, peripheral, lipid-anchored
Describe cytoskeletal protein network in red blood cells
SPECTRIN forms mesh beneath cytoplasmic surface of cell; spectrin attached to membrane junctional complexes by ACTIN and to peripheral protein ANKYRIN, which is attached to anion channel (integral protein)
Roles of membrane proteins (3)
- Transport
- Receptors for molecular messengers from other cells
- Form junctions between cells
Where are membrane carbohydrates found?
Projecting from the exterior surface of the plasma membrane when attached to proteins or phospholipids within membrane
Most carbohydrates in membranes are bound to ____ forming ______
proteins, glycoproteins
What do glycolipids do?
Form cell identity markers (e.g., blood group markers)
Types of specific cell junctions in animal cells
Tight junctions, desmosomes, gap junctions
Homotypic vs. heterotypic binding
Same membrane proteins vs. different membrane types
What do tight junctions prevent?
Permeability (fluid cannot get through)
What do desmosomes do?
They are structural features joining cells together and don’t prevent molecules slipping between cells