Membrane Structure and

Function
Lecture Outcomes
● Understand the concept of “selective permeability”
● Brief description of “membrane fluidity” and why it’s important
● List the functions of membrane proteins
● Detailed understanding of movement across the membrane:
permeability, channels, carriers, diffusion, osmosis, active
transport, cotransport, bulk transport
● Describe the contents of the extracellular matrix
Cell Membrane
● Cell membrane is also called plasma membrane
● Plasma membrane controls traffic (=movement) of molecules into
and out of the cell it surrounds
● Plasma membrane has selective permeability = allows some
substances to cross more easily than others
● Selective permeability is important for keeping the cell alive
● This is because the cell needs to keep its pH and concentration of
molecules the same even if the environment changes
Selective Permeability

Some molecules Some molecules Some molecules

Some molecules
are allowed to are allowed to are allowed to
are not allowed
enter with no enter in medium enter in small
to enter at all
restriction amounts amounts only
Membranes of Organelles are Similar to Cell Membrane
● Membranes on other organelles like the nucleus, mitochondria, and
lysosomes, etc. also have selective permeability
● This allows some organelles to have different pH and different
concentration of molecules than the rest of the cell
Composition of Cell Membrane
● Cell membrane is made up of many amphipathic molecules
● Amphipathic = have a hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions
● Phospholipids have a hydrophilic head and hydrophobic tails
● Proteins in the cell membrane also have hydrophilic and hydrophobic
parts
Fluidity of Membranes
● A membrane is held together by hydrophobic interactions between
phospholipids, which are weaker than covalent bonds
● Movement of molecules within the membrane is lateral
● The fluidity of membranes is affected by how many of the
phospholipid tails contain saturated or unsaturated fatty acids;
unsaturated tails have kinks (=bending) and saturated tails do not
● Saturated tails (image on the right) are tightly packed so less fluid
● Unsaturated tails (image on the left) are less tightly packed so
more fluid
● Presence of cholesterol in the cell membrane has
different effects at different temperatures
● At 37°C (human body temperature) and higher
temperatures, it reduces membrane fluidity
● It also makes it difficult for phospholipids to pack
tightly, therefore a lower temperature is needed to
stop membrane movement
● So it stops the membrane molecules from
moving too much when temperature is high and
stops the membrane molecules from moving too
little when the temperature is low
Temperature low Temperature high

increases membrane reduces membrane

fluidity fluidity

Easy for phospholipids to difficult for phospholipids

pack tightly to pack tightly

stops the membrane stops the membrane

molecules from moving molecules from moving
too little too much

Effect of Cholesterol
● Why is this important?
● If the membrane is too fluid, it cannot support the function of
membrane proteins
● If the membrane is too solid, it becomes less permeable and
enzymatic proteins become inactive (=not active) since some
enzymes need to move within the membrane
● Different living beings have different composition of cell membrane
(= how many saturated or unsaturated fatty acids tails, and how
many cholesterol) depending on the environment they live (e.g. if the
environment is cold or hot)
Membrane Proteins
● Two types:
○ Integral: penetrate the membrane. They are called
transmembrane if they cover the whole membrane
○ Peripheral: are on the outside or inside of the membrane but do
not penetrate it
Functions of Membrane Proteins
● Transport: allow transport of molecules
into and out of cells
● Enzymes: promote important chemical
reactions
● Signal transduction: receive signals
from molecules
● Cell recognition: like an “ID” for other cells to
recognise the cell
● Cell Junctions (see Chapter 4)
● Attachment to the cytoskeleton (Chapter 4)
and extracellular matrix
Membrane Permeability
● What do we mean by selective permeability?
(slide 4)
● The cell membrane has different permeability to
different molecules
● Hydrophobic molecules can cross the
membrane easily
● Small molecules with no charge can pass
through with little restrictions
● Large uncharged molecules require transport
proteins
● Polar molecules and ions require transport
proteins
Why?
● Hydrophobic molecules can dissolve in the hydrophobic tails of
the phospholipids and therefore can pass through the membrane
● Hydrophilic molecules like ions and polar molecules cannot pass
through the hydrophobic tails and therefore need a transport protein
to help them pass through
Transport Proteins
● Transport proteins are specific for different molecules e.g. the
transport protein that transports glucose cannot transport other
molecules and the transport protein that transports water cannot
transport any other molecule. Each molecule has a specific
transport protein
● There are different types of transport proteins. We will look at:
○ Channels
○ Carriers
Channels and Carriers
● Channel proteins are like tunnels,
allowing molecules to pass through
● Carrier proteins bind to the molecule,
and change their shape to let them
through

https://www.biologyonline.com/dictiona
protein
Movement Into and Out of the Cell
● Movement of molecules into the cell or out of it can happen in two
ways:
1. Passive transport: relies on diffusion, does not require energy
2. Active transport: needs energy to force molecules inside or
outside the cell
Diffusion
● When molecules are placed into a container, they spread out until
they occupy the whole place, and become evenly distributed (=equal
space between each molecule)
● This means that molecules move from a concentrated area to a less
concentrated area, until they become evenly distributed
● This happens naturally, and does not require adding energy
● This means that if the molecule has a higher concentration outside
the cell than inside the cell, then the molecule will move into the cell
● If the molecule has a higher concentration inside the cell than
outside the cell, then the molecule will move outside the cell
● We say that the molecule is moving down its concentration gradient
(=from where it has high concentration to where it has low
concentration)
Osmosis
● Osmosis is a special type of diffusion involving water
● Water molecules move from less concentrated solution to a more
concentrated solution (dilution)

https://www.cleanroomtechnology.co
news/article_page/
Reverse_osmosis_in_cleanrooms/2031
Osmosis in Cells
● Since cells are mostly made from water, the cell can grow bigger if
water enters, or shrink (=become smaller) if water leaves it
● If a cell is placed in a more concentrated (highly diluted) solution
(=hypertonic), then it will lose water and shrink
● If a cell is placed in a solution of same concentration (=isotonic),
then it will not lose or gain water. It will stay the same shape and size
● If a cell is placed in a solution of lower concentration (=hypotonic)
then it will gain water (highly diluted)
https://blog.nursing.com
hypertonic-hypotonic-
isotonic-what-the-tonic
● Plant cells are protected from the effects of osmosis by their cell wall
● Cell wall stops the cell from bursting if too much water enters it
● As the cell swells (=becomes bigger from taking water) it pushes
against the cell wall
● Cell wall pushes back
● The pressure from cell wall pushing back stops the cell from
expanding any more
● The cell becomes turgid. Plant cells are in their healthiest state when
they are turgid
Why is Turgid Cell the Healthiest State?
● The pressure from turgid cells (=turgor pressure) keeps small plants
standing upright
● Other living beings, like some protists, use vacuoles to pump the
extra water out of the cell.

https://www.quora.com/W
contractile-vacuoles-impo
● Passive transport can happen across the membrane or through
transport proteins
Active Transport
● Active transport uses energy to force molecules to enter the cell or
force them out of the cell
● This movement happens against the concentration gradient = the
molecules are moving from less concentrated solution to more
concentrated solution
● This is not the natural way for the molecules to move, so energy is
needed to force molecules to move in the opposite direction
● Active transport only happens using transport proteins
Ion Pumps
● Ion pumps are transport proteins that use energy to pump ions into
the cell or out of the cell
● The inside of the cell has more K+ than outside the cell
● The inside of the cell has less Na+ than outside the cell
● The cell uses ion pumps to force more K+ into the cell and remove
more Na+ out of the cell
● Na+ is more positive than K+
● So when the cell removes Na+ it becomes less positive
● Less positive also means more negative
https://www.researchgate.net/
publication/
273751706_Malignant_hyperth
naway_thermogenic_futile_cycl
Why?
● Why would a cell try to force a molecule against its concentration
gradient?
● As mentioned in the previous slide, pumping out Na+ keeps the cell
more negative
● Another reason is cotransport
Cotransport
● The cell can transport two things
together
● E.g. since Na+ is more
concentrated outside the cell, it will
diffuse back into the cell if it is
allowed
● The cell can allow Na+ to enter, but
it will have to bring a second
molecule with it
https://ib.bioninja.com.au/
standard-level/topic-1-cell-bio
14-membrane-transport/
Bulk Transport
● If the cell wants to take large quantities of macromolecules
● If the cell wants to release large quantities of macromolecules
● Then it can do that using bulk transport
● Bulk transport involves using vesicles instead of transport proteins
● There are many types of bulk transport. We will look at:
○ Endocytosis
○ Exocytosis
Endocytosis
● The cell wraps plasma membrane around the molecules, and they
enter the cell as a vesicle

https://flexbooks.ck12.org/cbook
biology-flexbook-2.0/section/2.16
lesson/exocytosis-and-endocytos
Exocytosis
● A vesicle (e.g. coming from the Golgi apparatus) can combine with
the plasma membrane, and open up to release the molecules outside
the cell
Extracellular Matrix

https://quizlet.com/570322464/
components-of-the-extracellular
ecm-diagram/
Extracellular Matrix
● The space outside the cell is filled with
extracellular matrix
● The extracellular matrix contains many
proteins and other molecules
● Most importantly:
○ Collagen fibres
○ Proteoglycans
○ Fibronectin
● Integrin proteins on the cell membrane act Fibronectin

as a link between the extracellular matrix

and the cytoskeleton inside the cell https://ib.bioninja.com.au/standard-
level/topic-1-cell-biology/13-membrane
structure/extracellular-matrix.html