Fluid Mosaic Model

Fluid à phospholipids can move

Mosaic à proteins are embedded among phospholipids

In an investigation into the properties of the cell membrane, the proteins in the membranes of
two cells, A and B, were stained using different dyes. The proteins of one cell were stained green
and the proteins of the other cell were stained red. The cells were then fused (merged together) to
form a single cell. The diagram below shows the distribution of the proteins in the cell
membranes before and after fusion.

a) Describe the distribution of the proteins in this single cell after fusion.

1.both types of protein in fused cell

2. the proteins are intermingled / mixed
3. same original number of protein

b) Describe how the results of this investigation can be explained by the fluid mosaic
model.

1. phospholipids / molecule A allow fluidity / movement

2. fluidity / movement allow membranes to fuse
3. fluidity / movement allows protein to {move / intermingle

The photograph shows an amoeba, as seen using a light microscope.

Pseudopodia are formed by cytoplasm flowing towards the membrane and changing its shape.
Explain why the membrane is able to change its shape when cytoplasm flows towards it.

•the membrane is fluid

• phospholipids and proteins can move (within the membrane)

Evidence for fluid mosaic model and the structure of cell membranes

• Phospholipids are both hydrophilic and hydrophobic so form bilayers in an aqueous

environment
• A monolayer film of phospholipids is twice as large as the cell surface area
• Microscope images of cell surfaces show proteins
• When lectins (substances that can react with carbohydrates) are added to a membrane,
they are found only on the outside
• Some water-soluble substances pass into and out of cells
• Ionic and polar molecules do not pass easily through membranes, but lipid-soluble
substances do.
The fluid mosaic model was the result of decades of research. One of the early (but incorrect)
models that was proposed before the fluid mosaic model was the Davson-Danielli model (1935).

Compare and contrast this model with the currently accepted model of cell membrane.

• Both models identified that there were phospholipids and proteins in the cell
membrane, but the fluid mosaic model suggests that the proteins are found within the
phospholipid bilayer while the Davson-Danielli model suggests that proteins are found
on the outside of the membrane (as a sandwich), which proved to be wrong.
• The fluid mosaic model identifies other parts of a cell membrane: glycolipids,
glycoproteins and cholesterol, which were not identified in the Davson-Danielli model.

Fluidity of membrane is affected by several factors:

Structure of phospholipids affect fluidity of membrane:

• -more unsaturated fatty acids (they move more easily due to their kinky structure) (this
is why some bacteria and yeast have more unsaturated fatty acids in their membranes)
• -shorter tails (shorter hydrophobic fatty acid chains)

Factors affecting fluidity of membranes:

• Increasing temperature
• Alcohol concentration
• Cholesterol concentration
Effect of temperature on beetroots membranes permeability:
As temperature increases, proteins and phospholipids gain more kinetic energy so they move
faster and become more fluid. The more fluid become the membrane protein, the more
pigment leaks.
The higher the temperature, the more do the phospholipids move; up to where
proteins denature and the entire membranes disintegrates leading to total leakage of
red pigment.

Effect of alcohol on beetroot membranes permeability:

The hydrophobic part of the membrane dissolves in the alcohol which means that the
phospholipids dissolve and lose their ability to orient themselves away and towards
water. This causes the membrane to be disrupted in addition the membrane of the
vacuole (for plant cells). The pigment is therefore able to escape and leak.

Effect of cholesterol on beetroot membranes permeability:

Cholesterol binds to the hydrophobic tails of the phospholipid reducing their fluidity
and makes them more closely packed next to each other and held fixed in their
positions.