The Cell Membrane

AP Biology 2012-2013
 Overview
 Cellular membranes - refer to all of the
membranes within a cell, including the
plasma membrane (or cell membrane) that
surrounds the cell and the membranes that
form the organelles.
 Two main roles
1) allow cells to isolate themselves from the
environment, giving them control over
intracellular conditions
2) help cells organize intracellular pathways into
discrete subcellular components, including
organelles
AP Biology
 Overview
 Cell membrane separates living cell from
nonliving surroundings
 thin barrier = 8nm thick
 Controls traffic in & out of the cell
 selectively permeable
 allows some substances to cross more easily
than others
 hydrophobic vs hydrophilic
 Made of phospholipids, proteins & other
macromolecules

AP Biology
 Phosphate
Phospholipids
 Fatty acid tails
 hydrophobic
 Phosphate group head
Fatty acid
 hydrophilic
 Arranged as a bilayer

Aaaah,
one of those
structure–function
examples
AP Biology
 Phospholipid bilayer

polar
hydrophilic
heads

nonpolar
hydrophobic
tails

polar
hydrophilic
heads

2011-2012
AP Biology
 More than lipids…
 In 1972, S.J. Singer & G. Nicolson
proposed that membrane proteins are
inserted into the phospholipid bilayer

It’s like a fluid…

It’s like a mosaic…
It’s the
Fluid Mosaic Model!

AP Biology
Membrane is a collage of proteins & other molecules
embedded in the fluid matrix of the lipid bilayer

Glycoprotein Extracellular fluid

Glycolipid

Phospholipids
Cholesterol
Transmembrane
proteins
Peripheral
protein
Cytoplasm Filaments of
cytoskeleton
AP Biology
 Membrane fat composition varies
 Fat composition affects flexibility
 membrane must be fluid & flexible
 about as fluid as thick salad oil
 % unsaturated fatty acids in phospholipids
 keep membrane less viscous
 cold-adapted organisms, like winter wheat
 increase % in au
 cholesterol in membrane

AP Biology
 Membrane fluidity
 Homeoviscous adaptation - most
poikilotherms can compensate
temperature changes by altering the lipid
composition of their membranes, thereby
regulating membrane fluidity.

AP Biology
 Membrane fluidity
 Poikilothermy and homeothermy
distinguish animals on the basis of the
stability of temperature.
 Poikilotherm – is an animal with a variable
temperature, one that varies in response to
environmental conditions
 Homeotherm – is an animal with a relatively

constant temperature, which is achieved

using physiological processes to regulate
the rates of heat production and loss.
AP Biology
 Membrane fluidity
 Ectotherm and endotherm distinguish
animals by the physiological
mechanisms that determine
temperature.
 Ectotherm – is an animal that shows
variable temperature; the environment
determines the temperature.
 Endotherm – is an animal that generates

internal heat to maintain a high temperature.

AP Biology
 Membrane Proteins
 Proteins determine membrane’s specific functions
 cell membrane & organelle membranes each have
unique collections of proteins
 Membrane proteins:
 peripheral proteins
 loosely bound to surface of membrane
 cell surface identity marker (antigens)
 integral proteins
 penetrate lipid bilayer, usually across whole membrane
 transmembrane protein
 transport proteins
 channels, permeases (pumps)
AP Biology
 Proteins domains anchor molecule
Polar areas
 Within membrane of protein
 nonpolar amino acids
 hydrophobic
 anchors protein
into membrane
 On outer surfaces of
membrane
 polar amino acids
 hydrophilic
 extend into
extracellular fluid &
into cytosol Nonpolar areas of protein
AP Biology
 H+

Examples Retinal
chromophore
NH2

water channel
in bacteria
Porin monomer
b-pleated sheets

Bacterial Nonpolar
outer (hydrophobic) COOH
membrane a-helices in the
cell membrane H+
Cytoplasm

proton pump channel

in photosynthetic bacteria
function through
conformational change =
AP Biology shape change
 Many Functions of Membrane Proteins
Outside

Plasma
membrane

Inside
Transporter Enzyme Cell surface
activity receptor

Cell surface Cell adhesion Attachment to the

AP Biology identity marker cytoskeleton
AP Biology
AP Biology
AP Biology
 Membrane carbohydrates
 Play a key role in cell-cell recognition
 ability of a cell to distinguish one
cell from another
 antigens
 important in organ &
tissue development
 basis for rejection of

foreign cells by
immune system
AP Biology
 Movement across the
Cell Membrane

AP Biology
 Diffusion

 Diffusion

 movement from high  low concentration

AP Biology
 Diffusion
 Move from HIGH to LOW concentration
 “passive transport”
 no energy needed

movement of water

AP Biology diffusion osmosis

 Diffusion across cell membrane
 Cell membrane is the boundary between
inside & outside…
 separates cell from its environment
Can it be an impenetrable boundary? NO!

IN OUT
food waste
carbohydrates OUT ammonia
sugars, proteins salts
amino acids CO2
IN
lipids H2O
salts, O2, H2O products
AP Biology
cell needs materials in & products or waste out
 Diffusion through phospholipid bilayer
 What molecules can get through directly?
 fats & other lipids

lipid
 What molecules can
inside cell NOT get through
NH3 salt directly?
 polar molecules
 H2O
 ions
 salts, ammonia
sugaraa H 2O
outside cell  large molecules
 starches, proteins
AP Biology
 Channels through cell membrane
 Membrane becomes semi-permeable
with protein channels
 specific channels allow specific material
across cell membrane

inside cell H2O aa sugar

NH3
AP Biology salt outside cell
 Facilitated Diffusion
 Diffusion through protein channels
 channels move specific molecules across
cell membrane
facilitated = with help
 no energy needed
open channel = fast transport
high

low
AP Biology “The Bouncer”
 Active Transport
 Cells may need to move molecules against
concentration gradient
 shape change transports solute from
one side of membrane to other
 protein “pump”
 “costs” energy = ATP conformational change
low

ATP

high
AP Biology “The Doorman”
 Active transport
 Many models & mechanisms

ATP ATP

antiport symport
AP Biology
 Getting through cell membrane
 Passive Transport
 Simple diffusion
 diffusion of nonpolar, hydrophobic molecules
 lipids
 high  low concentration gradient
 Facilitated transport
 diffusion of polar, hydrophilic molecules
 through a protein channel
 high  low concentration gradient
 Active transport
 diffusion against concentration gradient
 low  high
 uses a protein pump
ATP
 requires ATP
AP Biology
 Transport summary
simple
diffusion

facilitated
diffusion

active ATP
transport
AP Biology
 How about large molecules?
 Moving large molecules into & out of cell
 through vesicles & vacuoles
 endocytosis

 phagocytosis = “cellular eating”

 pinocytosis = “cellular drinking”
 exocytosis

AP Biology exocytosis
 Phagocytosis: “cellular eating”

AP Biology
 Osmosis is diffusion of water

 Diffusion of water from

high concentration of water to
low concentration of water
 across a
semi-permeable
membrane

AP Biology
 Concentration of water
 Direction of osmosis is determined by
comparing total solute concentrations
 Hypertonic - more solute, less water
 Hypotonic - less solute, more water
 Isotonic - equal solute, equal water

water

hypotonic hypertonic
AP Biology net movement of water
 Managing water balance
 Cell survival depends on balancing
water uptake & loss

AP Biology freshwater balanced saltwater

 Managing water balance
 Isotonic
 animal cell immersed in
mild salt solution
 example:
blood cells in blood plasma
 problem: none
no net movement of water
 flows across membrane
equally, in both directions
volume of cell is stable
AP Biology balanced
 Managing water balance
 Hypotonic
 a cell in fresh water
 example: Paramecium
 problem: gains water,
swells & can burst
 water continually enters
Paramecium cell
 solution: contractile vacuole
ATP  pumps water out of cell
 ATP
 plant cells
 turgid
AP Biology freshwater
 Water regulation
 Contractile vacuole in Paramecium

ATP

AP Biology
 Managing water balance
 Hypertonic
 a cell in salt water
 example: shellfish
 problem: lose water & die
 solution: take up water or
pump out salt
 plant cells
 plasmolysis = wilt

AP Biology saltwater
 1991 | 2003
Aquaporins
 Water moves rapidly into & out of cells
 evidence that there were water channels

Peter Agre Roderick MacKinnon

John Hopkins Rockefeller
AP Biology
 Osmosis…

.05 M .03 M

Cell (compared to beaker)  hypertonic or hypotonic

Beaker (compared to cell)  hypertonic or hypotonic
Which way does the water flow?  in or out of cell
AP Biology
Most animal cells cannot withstand osmotic pressure
unless their plasma membranes are braced to resist
the swelling. If placed in water, they soon burst like
AP Biology
overinflated balloons.
 CELL SURFACE
SPECIALIZATIONS

AP Biology
 Extracellular matrix (ECM)
 Nonliving, complex mixture of fibrous
proteins and polysaccharides
 Secreted by the cells
 Supports, anchors cells, separates
tissues and functions in cell signalling
 Cuticle-waxy ECM of some plants
 Chitin (cuticle)- ECM of crabs, spiders

and other arthropods

 ECM of the bones-mainly collagen and

other minerals
AP Biology
 Cell Junctions/Junctional complex
 Structures that connect a cell to other
cells and to the environment
 three types:
 Occluding junctions
 Anchoring junctions
 Communicating junctions

AP Biology
AP Biology
 1. Occluding/tight junctions

 impermeable
 form the primary intercellular diffusion
barrier between adjacent cells
 Prevent body fluids from seeping between
adjacent cells (ex. Tight junctions in the
lining of the stomach)

AP Biology
AP Biology
 2. Anchoring/adhering junctions
 provide mechanical stability
 by linking the cytoskeleton of one cell to the
cytoskeleton of an adjacent cell
 lateral cell surface
 basal domain

 Important in creating and maintaining the

structural unity of the epithelium (tissue)

AP Biology
 Anchoring junction

AP Biology
 3. Communicating/gap junctions

 allow direct communication between

adjacent cells by diffusion of small
molecules
 (e.g., ions, amino acids, sugars, nucleotides,
second messengers, metabolites)
 Found in epithelia, cardiac and nerves

AP Biology
 Gap junction

AP Biology
 End.

AP Biology