Professional Documents
Culture Documents
AND
BIOLOGY
CHAPTER 8
MOLECULAR
CELLULAR MEMBRANES
Plasma Membrane
Thin and fragile
5 to 10 nm wide
J.D. Robertson
The plasma membrane is a
trilaminar layer
Trilaminar
layer:
Dark
staining inner and outer
layer, lightly staining middle
layer
Membrane has a lipid
bilayer: Polar surface (polar
head) and non-polar tails
Membrane Functions
1. Compartmentalization
Membranes
are
continuous
and
unbroken sheets
Function:
enclose
compartments in the
cell
(the
nuclear
and
cytoplasmic
membranes
enclose
intercellular spaces)
The
compartments
allow
specialized
activities to proceed
without any external
interference
and
there is regulation of
the cellular activities
2. Scaffold for biochemical
activities
Membranes are also
scaffolds
3. Providing
a
selectively
permeable barrier
Provide a barrier that
prevents
the
unrestricted exchange
of molecules from one
side to another
Function:
For
communication
between
compartments as it
separates
Function:
Promote
movement
of
selected
elements
into and out of the
enclosed living space
4. Transporting solutes
Transports
substances from one
side to another side
Follows the pathway
of
lower
concentration
to
higher concentration
There will be an
accumulation of sugar
and amino acids for
metabolism
and
macromolecules
Transport ions- ionic
gradient (nerve and
muscle cells)
5. Responding to external
stimuli
Response of a cell to
the external stimuli
Signal transduction:
receptors bind to
ligands
Respond to other
types of stimuli such
as
light
or
mechanical tension
Signals generated may
stimulate or inhibit
internal activities
Ex:
1. Signals generated
at
the
plasma
membrane may tell
a
cell
to
manufacture more
glycogen
2. Prepare for cell
division
3. Move
toward
a
higher
concentration of a
particular
compounds
4. Release
calcium
from internal stores
5. Commit
suicide
(apoptosis)
6. Intercellular interaction
Interaction of a cell
with its neighbors
Outer edge of the living
plasma membrane
1. Cells can recognize
one another
2. Adhere
to
one
another
(cell
adhesion)
3. Exchange materials
and information
Proteins
can
facilitate
interaction
between
extracellular
materials
and
intracellular
cytoskeleton
7. Energy transduction
Energy
is
converted from one
type to another
type
Photosynthesis
has
the
most
abundant
energy
transduction (light
energy to chemical
energy)
Energy from the sun
is absorbed by the
membrane
bound
pigments
(energy
will be stored as
carbohydrates)
Plasma Membrane Structure
Ernst Overton
- Lipids are chemical
in nature
- Like dissolves like
(non-polar
solute
dissolves in nonpolar solvent)
- Used plant root
hairs: more lipidsoluble the solute,
more rapidly it
would enter the
root hair cells
E. Gorter and F.
Grendel
- Cellular
membranes have
a lipid bilayer
- Extracted lipid from
red blood cells
and measured the
amount of surface
area the lipid would
cover when spread
over the surface of
water
- Ratio of surface
area
of
water
covered
by
extracted lipid 2:1
- Polar groups of
molecular layers
or leaflets were
directed outwards
towards
the
aqueous
environment
of
discontinuous
particles
that
penetrate the lipid
sheet
(Made up of lipids
and proteins)
- The
cell
membrane
is
DYNAMIC
- Proteins penetrate
the lipid bilayer
o Peripheral
Proteins
o Integral Proteins
Chemical
Composition
of
Membranes
Membrane Lipids
Membranes are made
up of Lipids and
proteins
Held together by noncovalent bonds
Ratio of lipid to protein
in membrane varies
and depends on the
type of cell membrane
(plasma
or
endoplasmic reticulum
or Golgi), type of
organism (bacterium,
animal or plant), type of
Phosphoglycerides
Contain a phosphate
group
Glycerol
backbone:
Phosphoglycerides
Diglycerides: two of
the hydroxyl (OH)
groups of glycerol
are esterified to the
fatty acids and the
third OH is esterified
to
a
hydrophilic
phosphate group and
two fatty acyl chain
Phosphatidic acid
Phosphatidylcholine
(PC)
Phosphatidylethanolam
ine (PE)
Phosphatidylserine
(PS)
Phosphatidylinositol
(PI)
Phosphatidyl
groups
are
small
and
hydrophilic
and
together
with
the
negatively
charged
phosphate to which it is
attached,
forms
a
highly water-soluble
domain at one end of
the molecule: HEAD
GROUP
Membrane fatty acid
may be saturated,
monounsaturated,
saturated
or
polyunsaturated
Sphingolipids
Sphingosine backbone
Sphingosine is linked to a
fatty acid
Ceramide
If
phosphorylcholine
sphingomyelin
Carbohydrate: Glycolipid
Simple sugar: Ceramide
- sialic acid, ganglioside
Nervous system is rich in
glycolipid
Myelin
sheath:
galactocerbroside
Cholesterol
Most of the animal cells are
made up of cholesterol
Plant
cells
contain
cholesterol-like sterols
Made up of 4 different rings
rings of are flat and rigid
Structure
and
Functions
of
Membrane Proteins
Membranes
may
contain
many types of proteins
Asymmetry is referred to as
sidedness
Integral proteins
Penetrate the lipid bilayer
Transmembrane proteins
Constitute 25-30 percent of all
encoded proteins and roughly
60 percent of all current drug
targets
Most are receptors that bind
to specific substances at the
membrane surface
Acts
as
channels,
transporters involved in the
movement of ions, solutes
across the membrane or
transfer of electrons
Amphipathic
Van der Waals forces
hydrophobic seals it with
the membrane
Protein is anchored to the
bilayer
Globular proteins: These are
the portions of the integral
membrane protein that project
into either the cytoplasm or
the extracellular space
hydrophilic, low molecular
weight substrates, hormones
and other proteins
Distribution
of
Integral
Proteins:
Freeze-Fracture
Analysis
Freeze
fracture
replication
Used as a technique to
investigate
the
cell
membrane structure
Membrane-associated
particles
or
released
membrane
from
the
Lipid-Anchored
Membrane
proteins
Outside the lipid bilayer on
either the extracellular or
cytoplasmic surface
Covalently linked to a lipid
molecule that is situated
within the bilayer
GPI-anchored proteins
These group of proteins are
present on the cytoplasmic
side
of
the
plasma
membrane and is anchored
to the membrane by one or
more long hydrocardbon
chains embedded in the
inner leaflet of the lipid
bilayer
Membrane Lipds and Membrane
Fluidity
Membrane Fluidity
Physical state of the lipid
depends on its viscosity or
fluidity
If temperature is warm: lipid
is relatively at a fluid state
(membrane
is
a
twodimensional liquid crystal)
Transition
temperature:
change from the liquid
crystal state to the frozen
crystalline gel change in
the temperature
The shape of a saturated
fatty acid: shape of a
flexible rod
Cis-unsaturated fatty acid:
crooks in the chain
The
patches
of
cholesterol and the
sphinglolipids
are
what are termed as
lipid rafts
random sea of lipid
molecules
Control of
Mobility
Membrane
Protein
Membrane
Polarity
Domains
Integral
Proteins
Erythrocyte Membrane
and
Cell
of
the