GENERAL BIOLOGY 2 LECTURE 3 CELL MEMBRANES

LIFE AT THE EDGE • Fluid Mosaic Model

• The plasma membrane is the boundary that separates the − States that a membrane is a fluid structure with a
living cell from its surroundings. mosaic of various proteins embedded in it.
• The plasma membrane exhibits selective permeability, − Proteins are not randomly distributed in the membrane.
allowing some substances to cross it more easily than others. • Fluidity of Membranes
• Plasma membrane varies depending on the organism being − Phospholipids in the plasma membrane can move
examined and its habitat. within the bilayer.
− Most of the lipids, and some proteins, drift laterally.
CELLULAR MEMBRANES ARE FLUID MOSAICS OF
− Rarely, a lipid may flip-flop transversely across the
LIPIDS AND PROTEINS
membrane.
• Phospholipids
− Other membrane proteins are held immobile by their
− Most abundant lipid in the plasma membrane.
attachment to cytoskeleton or extracellular matrix.
− Amphipathic molecules, containing hydrophobic
• Permeability of the membrane depends on the material
(water-fearing) and hydrophilic (water-loving) regions.
entering.
− A phospholipid bilayer can exist as a stable boundary
between two aqueous compartments.
− Unsaturated hydrophobic tails can easily bind with
other molecules.
− Saturated hydrophobic tails have compact arrangement
and dictates the permeability of the membrane.

MEMBRANE PROTEINS AND THEIR FUNCTIONS

• Proteins determine most of the membrane’s specific
functions.
• Uncharged ions, small molecules (O2 and CO2) can easily
penetrate the plasma membrane.

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GENERAL BIOLOGY 2 LECTURE 3 CELL MEMBRANES

− Attachment to the cytoskeleton and ECM

SYNTHESIS AND SIDENESS OF MEMBRANES

• Peripheral Proteins
• Membranes have distinct inside and outside faces.
− Bound to the surface of the membrane.
• The asymmetrical distribution of proteins, lipids, and
• Integral Proteins
associated carbohydrates in the plasma membrane is
− Penetrate the hydrophobic core.
determined when the membrane is built by the ER and Golgi
− Transmembrane Proteins – integral proteins that span
apparatus.
the membrane
− The hydrophobic regions of an integral protein consist
of one or more stretches of nonpolar amino acids, often
coiled into alpha helices.
• Six Major Functions
− Transport
− Enzymatic activity
− Signal transduction
− Cell-cell recognition
i) Cells recognize each other by binding to
molecules, often containing carbohydrates, on the
extracellular surface of the plasma membrane.
ii) Membrane carbohydrates may be covalently
bonded to lipids (forming glycolipids) or more
commonly to proteins (forming glycoproteins). MEMBRANE STRUCTURE RESULTS IN SELECTIVE
iii) Carbohydrates on the external side of the plasma PERMEABILITY
membrane vary among species, individuals, and • A cell must exchange materials with its surroundings, a
even cell types in an individual. process controlled by the plasma membrane.
− Intercellular joining
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GENERAL BIOLOGY 2 LECTURE 3 CELL MEMBRANES

• Plasma membranes are selectively permeable, regulating the • Substances diffuse down their concentration gradient, the
cell’s molecular traffic. region along which the density of a chemical substance
increases or decreases.
PERMEABILITY OF THE LIPID BILAYER
• No work must be done to move substances down the
• Hydrophobic
concentration gradient,
− Nonpolar molecules • The diffusion of a substance across a biological membrane
− Example is hydrocarbons is passive transport because no energy is expended by the
− Can dissolve in the lipid bilayer and pass through the cell to make it happen.
membrane rapidly.
• Hydrophilic
− Includes ions and polar molecules.
− Do not cross the membrane easily.

TRANSPORT PROTEINS
• Allow passage of hydrophilic substances across the
membrane.
• Specific for the substance it moves.
• Chanel proteins have a hydrophilic channel that certain
molecules or ions can use as a tunnel.
• Aquaporins, channel proteins that facilitate the passage of
water.
• Carrier proteins bind to molecules and change shape to
EFFECTS OF OSMOSIS ON WATER BALANCE
shuttle them across the membrane.
• Osmosis is the diffusion of water across a selectively
PASSIVE TRANSPORT permeable membrane.
• Water diffuses across a membrane from the region of lower
solute concentration to the region of higher solute
concentration until the solute concentration is equal on both
sides.

• Diffusion of a substance across a membrane with no energy

(ATP) investment.
• Diffusion is the tendency for molecules to spread out evenly
into the available space.
• Although each molecule moves randomly, diffusion of a
population of molecules may be directional.
• At dynamic equilibrium, as many molecules cross the
membrane in one direction as in the other.

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GENERAL BIOLOGY 2 LECTURE 3 CELL MEMBRANES

WATER BALANCE OF CELLS WITHOUT CELL i) Gated channels – ion channels that open or close
WALLS in response to a stimulus.
• Tonicity is the ability of a surrounding solution to cause a • Carrier proteins undergo a subtle change in shape that
cell to gain or lose water. translocate the solute-binding site across the membrane.
− Isotonic: Solute concentration is the same as that inside
the cell. No net water movement across the plasma
membrane.
− Hypertonic: Solute concentration is greater than that
inside the cell; cell loses water.
− Hypotonic: Solute concentration is less than that inside
the cell; cell gains water.

• Hypertonic or hypotonic environments create osmotic
problems for organisms.
− Osmoregulation, control of solute concentrations and
water balance, is a necessary adaptation for life in such
environments.
− The protist Paramecium, which is hypertonic to its
pond water environment, has a contractile vacuole that
acts as a pump.
ACTIVE TRANSPORT
• Uses energy to move solutes against their gradients.
• Requires energy, usually in the form of ATP.
• Performed by specific proteins embedded in the membranes.
• Allows cells to maintain gradients that differ from their
surroundings.
• Sodium-potassium pump, one type of active transport
system.

FACILITATED DIFFUSION
• Transport proteins speed the passive movement of
molecules across the plasma membrane.

ION PUMPS MAINTAINING MEMBRANE

POTENTIAL
• Membrane potential is the voltage difference across a
membrane.
• Voltage is created by difference in the distribution of
positive and negative ions across a membrane.
• Two combined forces, collectively called the
electrochemical gradient, drive the diffusion of ions across
a membrane.
• Channel proteins provide corridors that allow a specific
− Chemical force is the ion’s concentration gradient.
molecule or ion to cross the membrane.
− Electrical force is the effect of the membrane
− Aquaporins facilitate the diffusion of water.
potentials on the ion’s movement.
− Ion channels facilitate the diffusion of ions.
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GENERAL BIOLOGY 2 LECTURE 3 CELL MEMBRANES

BULK TRNASPORT

ELECTROGENIC PUMP
• Transport protein that generates voltage across a membrane.
• Sodium-potassium pump is the major electrogenic pump
of animal cells.
• Proton pump is the main electrogenic pump of plants,
fungi, and bacteria.

COTRANSPORT
• Occurs across the plasma membrane by exocytosis and
• Occurs when active transport of a solute indirectly drives endocytosis
transport of other substances.
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GENERAL BIOLOGY 2 LECTURE 3 CELL MEMBRANES

• Small molecules and water enter or leave the cell through

the lipid bilayer or via transport proteins.
• Large molecules, such as polysaccharides and proteins,
cross the membrane in bulk via vesicles.
• Hence, it requires energy.
• Exocytosis
− Transport vesicles migrate to the membrane, fuse with
it, and release their contents outside the cell.
− Many secretory cells use exocytosis to export their
products.
• Endocytosis
− Cell takes in macromolecules forming vesicles from
plasma membrane
− Types:
i) Phagocytosis (cellular eating)
ii) Pinocytosis (cellular drinking)
iii) Receptor-mediated endocytosis

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