1.3.

S2
Analysis of evidence from
electron microscopy that led
to the proposal of the
Davson-Danielli model.
.
Historical Context
Charles Ernest Overton (1899) is regarded as a
pioneer in the understanding of the structure and
function of the cell membrane.

Overton proposed a membrane model which stated

that biological membranes are made up of lipids.
Overton also concluded that the cell membrane is
semipermeable, meaning some materials could pass
through the membrane while others could not. Before
this discovery it was believed that the membrane was
impermeable to almost anything but water.
Historical Context
Evert Gorter and Francois Grendel
(1925) concluded that the plasma
membrane is a lipid bilayer made
of phospholipids with hydrophilic
heads and hydrophobic tails (
1.3.U1). Gorter and Grendel proposed
a structure for the bilayer,
with the polar hydrophilic
heads facing outwards
towards the aqueous
environment and the
hydrophobic tails facing
inwards away from the
aqueous surroundings on both
sides of the membrane.

. Evert Gorter
 Gorter and Grendel hypothesized that if the plasma membrane
is a bilayer, then its surface area should be half that occupied
Historical Context by all its lipids spread out in a monolayer.

2 They extracted the lipids from the

cells, spread the lipids as a
monolayer, and then again measured
the surface area of the lipids.

1 They measured the total 3 Comparison of these two

surface area of the plasma measurements produced a cell:monolayer
membrane of red blood surface area ratio of approximately 1:2 for
cells under a microscope. a number of different mammalian red cells,
supporting their hypothesis.
Historical Context
Because electron microscopes have a much higher
resolution than light microscopes (1.2.U4), the
invention of the electron microscope in the 1930’s
led to greater understanding of cell structures such
as the cell membrane (1.2.NOS).
 Describe the observations and conclusions drawn
by Davson and Danielli in discovering the
structure of cell membranes.
Based on new
images of cells taken
through electron
microscopes, Hugh
Davson and James
Danielli (1935)
proposed that the cell
membrane includes
globular protein James Danielli Hugh Davson
molecules attached A contribution to the theory
of permeability of thin films
to each side of the James Frederic Danielli Hugh Davson
lipid bilayer. Journal of Cellular and Comparative Physiology
February 1935

*scientific models change as new information is gleaned from technological

and experimental advancements (1.3.NOS1)
Describe the observations and conclusions drawn by Davson and
Danielli in discovering the structure of cell membranes.
The Davson-Danielli model
of the cell membrane is
described as a protein-lipid-
protein "sandwich." This
structure was proposed
because through an
electron microscope the
cell membrane appears as Although structurally incorrect,
two dark lines (proposed to the Davson-Danielli model
be the proteins, 1.3.U2) on increased understanding of cell
Proteins show up
either side of a lighter core dark under the membranes by including
(proposed to be the lipid electron microscope- proteins in biological
bilayer, 1.3.U1). with lipids showing
membranes.
up clear.
Historical Context
The Davson-Danielli
model of membrane
structure was accepted by
most cell biologists for
about 30 years. However,
in the 1950s and 1960s
some experimental
evidence accumulated
that did not fit with the
Davson-Danielli model (
1.3.S3). Singer and
Nicolson advanced the
fluid mosaic model in
1972 (1.3.S1).