Vesicular Transport Flashcards
What does endocytosis allow?
The capture of molecules from the outside of the compartment/cell
What does exocytosis allow?
The secretion from compartment/cell to the outside
What are the 3 main components in the plasma membrane?
Lipids
Carbohydrates
Proteins
What do lipids contribute to the membrane?
Continuity and flexibility
What do proteins contribute to the membrane?
Transport
What do carboydrates contribute to the membrane?
Cell protection and tagging of cells
Where are sugars present on the cell?
On the extracellular surface
How are sugars attached to the cell?
To either lipids or proteins
How do sugars protect the cell in damaging environments?
Forms a protective layer of the extracellular surface of the cell
What is the structure of a phosopholipid?
Polar head group (hydrophillic) made of:
Amino acid (which can change)
Phosphate
Glycerol
2 hydrocarbon tails - one which has a cis-double bond to produce a kink
Ester bond between the glycerol and phosphate
What are examples of phospholipids?
Phosphatidyl ethanolamine
Phosphatidyl serine
Phosphatidyl choline
Which phospholipid is of net negative charge?
What does this mean?
Phosphatidyl serine
This phospholipid must be localised to the inside of the membrane
What does phosphatidyl serine play a huge part in?
Cell function and cell death
What is the difference between phospholipids and sphingolipids?
What is an example of a sphingolipid?
Sphingolipids have sphingosine instead of phosphate
Sphingomyelin
What are needed to allow the membrane to be flexible?
Why?
Unsaturated fatty acids
Have a kink in there structure - providing disorder to the membrane
What are unsaturated fatty acids?
Fatty acids which have a CIS double bond
Don’t have the maximum amount of hydrocarbons bound
How many cis double bonds can be present in a hydrocarbon tail?
Many
How many double bonds does Omega-3 have?
Omega-6?
3
6
Where is Omega-3 produced?
What is it eaten by?
By sea plants
Eaten by fish
Where is Omega-6 produced?
What is it eaten by?
By land plants
Eaten by land animals
Why is it important to eat Omega-3 and Omega-6?
These cannot be made in the body
Must consume them to keep the membrane of cells flexible (they have many double bonds)
What does cholesterol do in the membrane?
Helps to seal the porous plasma membrane and preserve internal molecules
Stabilises the membrane
What is the structure of cholesterol?
- 4 rings
- Polar head group
- Ridges hydrophobic tail
What is the percentage of cholesterol in the membrane?
17%
Which phospholipid has the highest percentage in the membrane and what is it?
Phosphatidyl choline
24%
Which phospholipid has the lowest percentage in the membrane and what is it?
Phosphatidyl serine
4%
How are intracellular molecule and vesicles kept away from each other and the plasma membrane?
They have negative charges
What percentage of the inner leaflet is phosphatidylserine and why?
8%
Only found on the inner leaflet, due to its negative charge
What does it mean if phosphatidylserine is exposed to the outside of the cell?
Signals that the cell is dying
Only occurs during apoptosis
What does the exposure of phosphatidylserine to the outside of the cell label?
Why?
The dead cell and its remnants
So they are rapidly consumed by other cells
What can phosphatidylserine flipover be detected by?
Where does this bind?
What colour is this?
Fluorescent Annexin V test
Binds to the heads of phosphatidyl serine
Red in colour
What 2 things does vesicular transport allow?
- Movement of material between distinct compartments of the cell
- Movement to the outside environment
What are transmembrane proteins?
What can the function of these proteins be?
Proteins which are inserted into the membrane
Ion channels/carriers/pumps