S+F OF THE PLAMSA MEMBRANE Flashcards
what are the 4 components of the eukaryotic cell?
plasma memb
nucleus
memb-bound organelles
cytoskeleton
why does the interior of the cell need to be physically separated from the surrounding environment?
To keep desirable substances in
To keep undesirable substances out
what is the function of the plasma membrane?
Barrier Sites of metabolic activities Ion transport Cell signalling Cell shape Cell-cell interactions
what is hypotonic?
Cells swelling
what is hypertonic?
cell shrinking
what happens if the membrane is ruptured?
escape of cell contents
what is compartmentalisation?
Applies to most internal organelles
Needed for chemical activities
what is Robertson’s “unit membrane”?
Membranes found to have “railroad track” structure
what is the structure of the unit membrane?
Two dark lines separated by a lightly stained central zone: “A trilaminar (three-layered) staining pattern”
what does the Triliaminar staining pattern by TEM show?
2 dark lines: outer & inner layer (containing the polar head groups)
separated by light central space (containing the hydrophobic region of the lipid molecules which do not stain)
what does the Fluid Mosaic Model show?
2 fluid layers of lipid
Proteins within or on lipid layers
how are lipid molecules arranged in the plasma membrane?
asymmetrically distributed
what is amphiphilic?
hydrophilic & hydrophobic regions
what is the polar head?
a hydrophilic (water-loving)
what are non polar tail?
a hydrophobic (water-fearing)
give examples of membrane lipids
phospholipids
glycolipids
sterols
what are phospholipids?
2 hydrocarbon tails; usually fatty acids
Tails differ in length between 14 -24 C atoms long
Cis-double bonds in one tail creating a small kink
how are lipid molecules arranged in phospholipids?
spontaneously aggregate to keep their hydrophobic tails in the interior and expose their hydrophilic heads to water
what are the 2 ways lipids can be arranged?
cone-shaped
cylinder-shaped
what is cone-shaped?
lipid molecules (single chain) form micelles
what is cylinder-shaped?
phospholipid molecules (double tailed) form bilayers
what are phosphoglyceride?
glycerol-based phospholipid