Professional Documents
Culture Documents
0. Are Membrane Proteins free to move about the membrane or are they fixed in
place? free to move about the cell
o what was the experiment that answered this question? fusing a mouse and
a human cell into a hybrid cell. Later, the mouse and human proteins were
mixed on the cell surface.
1. Adhesion proteins
o where are they in the membrane? embedded in the membrane but mostly
on either the outer cell surface or the inner cell surface
o what do they do? they either anchor the cell in position in the extracellular
matrix or they anchor something inside the cell.
2. Communication proteins
o are also called Gap Junctions
o where are they in the membrane? span the membrane
o what do they do with others like them? they hook up (connect) to other
gap junctions in a neighboring cell
o what do they form? large channels between the cell so that their cytoplasm
is connected
o what are they important in? chemical/electrical signaling
3. Receptor proteins
embedded in membrane, receptor is on one side
signal molecules (ie. hormones) bind to these proteins
binding ... changes cell activities (growth hormone, cell get's ready to divide)
4. Recognition proteins
o on cell membrane's outer surface
o identify a cell as belonging to its host
o how body recognizes bacteria, virus, etc as non-self, immune defense
o important in blood typing (ABO), organ grafting
o help cells of a tissue type find and attach to one another
5. Passive transport proteins
o span membrane & form channels
o allow specific molecules to pass w/o expending E
o animals/plants have numerous to allow water
6. Active Transport proteins
o span membrane & form channels
o allow specific molecules to pass w expending E
o allow a molecule to move to an area of higher concentration
o H+ ion pump, requires ATP