Factors Affecting Fluidity of Plasma Membrane
plasma membrane is integral proteins that
The fluidity of the cell membrane is influenced by
three factors:
Temperature
Phospholipids are found close together when it is
cold. When it’s hot, they move apart.
Cholesterol
The cholesterol molecules are randomly distributed
along the phospholipid bilayer and hold it
preventing it from separating too far, or compact too
tightly.
Saturated and Unsaturated Fatty Acids
Fatty acids make up the phospholipid tails.
Saturated fatty acid chains have a single bond
between the carbon atoms whereas, unsaturated
fatty acid chains have double bonds between the
carbon atoms.
Double bonds make it harder for the chain to pack
tightly by creating kinks. These kinks increase the
fluidity of the membrane.
Restriction to Fluidity of Plasma Membrane
The fluidity of plasma membrane is restricted due
to:
Lipid Rafts
These are the lipid domains found on the external
leaflet of the plasma membrane. Cholesterol,
glycosphingolipids, glycosylphosphatidylinositol
are the building blocks of lipid rafts.
Protein Complexes
Proteins and glycoproteins are diffused within the
plasma membrane. These help in the transport of
ions and metabolites, cell signalling, adhesion, and
migration.
Key Points on Fluid Mosaic Model
 The plasma membrane comprises
amphiphilic, phospholipid molecules.
 The second important component of the
are integrated completely into the
membrane.
 Carbohydrates are found on the external
surface of the membrane where they are
bound to proteins or lipids.
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Why is it called fluid mosaic model?
The phospholipid molecules and the molecules of
cholesterol are linked together. This keeps the cell
membrane intact and cohesive. This is why it is
called fluid mosaic model.
What are the features of the membranes of fluid
mosaic model?
The membranes of fluid mosaic model include:
 A lipid bilayer, where lipids are free to move
but cannot cross the membrane.
 Integral membrane proteins
What causes the fluidity of plasma membrane?
The elasticity and fluidity of plasma membrane are
due to lipid molecules. The membrane proteins give
semi-permeability to the plasma membrane.
Which factors affect the fluidity of the plasma
membrane?
The fluidity of the plasma membrane is affected due
to:
 Length of the fatty acid tail
 Temperature
 Cholesterol
 Degree of saturation of fatty acid tails
What are integral and peripheral proteins?
Peripheral proteins are those that are located in the
inner and outer layer of phospholipid bilayer,
whereas, integral proteins are embedded within the
bilayer.

Membrane Fluidity
There are multiple factors that lead to membrane
fluidity. First, the mosaic characteristic of the
membrane helps the plasma membrane remain
fluid. The integral proteins and lipids exist in the
membrane as separate but loosely-attached
molecules. The membrane is not like a balloon that
can expand and contract; rather, it is fairly rigid and
can burst if penetrated or if a cell takes in too much
water. However, because of its mosaic nature, a
very fine needle can easily penetrate a plasma
membrane without causing it to burst; the
membrane will flow and self-seal when the needle
is extracted.
Membrane Fluidity: The plasma membrane is a
fluid combination of phospholipids, cholesterol, and
proteins. Carbohydrates attached to lipids
(glycolipids) and to proteins (glycoproteins) extend
from the outward-facing surface of the membrane.
The second factor that leads to fluidity is the nature
of the phospholipids themselves. In their saturated
form, the fatty acids in phospholipid tails are
saturated with bound hydrogen atoms; there are no
double bonds between adjacent carbon atoms. This
results in tails that are relatively straight. In
contrast, unsaturated fatty acids do not contain a
maximal number of hydrogen atoms, although they
do contain some double bonds between adjacent
carbon atoms; a double bond results in a bend of
approximately 30 degrees in the string of carbons.
Thus, if saturated fatty acids, with their straight
tails, are compressed by decreasing temperatures,
they press in on each other, making a dense and
fairly rigid membrane. If unsaturated fatty acids are
compressed, the “kinks” in their tails elbow
adjacent phospholipid molecules away, maintaining
some space between the phospholipid molecules.
This “elbow room” helps to maintain fluidity in the
membrane at temperatures at which membranes
with saturated fatty acid tails in their phospholipids
would “freeze” or solidify. The relative fluidity of
the membrane is particularly important in a cold
environment. A cold environment tends to compress
membranes composed largely of saturated fatty
acids, making them less fluid and more susceptible
to rupturing. Many organisms (fish are one
example) are capable of adapting to cold
environments by changing the proportion of
unsaturated fatty acids in their membranes in
response to the lowering of the temperature.
In animals, the third factor that keeps the membrane
fluid is cholesterol. It lies alongside the
phospholipids in the membrane and tends to
dampen the effects of temperature on the
membrane. Thus, cholesterol functions as a buffer,
preventing lower temperatures from inhibiting
fluidity and preventing higher temperatures from
increasing fluidity too much. Cholesterol extends in
both directions the range of temperature in which
the membrane is appropriately fluid and,
consequently, functional. Cholesterol also serves
other functions, such as organizing clusters of
transmembrane proteins into lipid rafts.
Key Points
 The membrane is fluid but also fairly rigid
and can burst if penetrated or if a cell takes
in too much water.
 The mosaic nature of the plasma membrane
allows a very fine needle to easily penetrate
it without causing it to burst and allows it to
self-seal when the needle is extracted.
 If saturated fatty acids are compressed by
decreasing temperatures, they press in on
each other, making a dense and fairly rigid
membrane.
 If unsaturated fatty acids are compressed,
the “kinks” in their tails push adjacent
phospholipid molecules away, which helps
maintain fluidity in the membrane.
 The ratio of saturated and unsaturated fatty
acids determines the fluidity in the
membrane at cold temperatures.
 Cholesterol functions as a buffer, preventing
lower temperatures from inhibiting fluidity
and preventing higher temperatures from
increasing fluidity.
Key Terms
 phospholipid: Any lipid consisting of a
diglyceride combined with a phosphate
group and a simple organic molecule such as
choline or ethanolamine; they are important
constituents of biological membranes
  fluidity: A measure of the extent to which
something is fluid. The reciprocal of its
viscosity.
The Fluidity of a Lipid Bilayer Depends on Its
Composition
The fluidity of a cell membrane is important for
membrane function and has to be maintained within
certain limit. Just how fluid a lipid bilayer is at a
given temperature depends on its phospholipid
composition, in particular, on the nature of
hydrocarbons tails. The closer and more regular
packing of the tails, the more viscous and less
fluid the bilayer will be. Two major properties of
hydrocarbon tails affect how tightly they pack in
bilayer.
1. The length of tails: Short tails have tendency
to increase fluidity
2. Degree of unsaturation of tails: Lipid bilayer
that contain a large proportion of unsaturated
hydrocarbon tails are more fluid than those with
lower proportions.
In animal cells, membrane fluidity is modulated by
the inclusion of the sterol cholesterol. These short,
rigid molecules are present in especially large
amounts in the plasma membrane, where they fill
space between neighboring phospholipids
molecules left by kinks in their unsaturated
hydrocarbon tails.

Fluidity is important for many reasons:

1. it allows membrane proteins rapidly in the plane
of bilayer.
2. It permits membrane lipids and proteins to diffuse
from sites where they are inserted into bilayer after
their synthesis.
3. It enables membranes to fuse with one another
and mix their molecules.
4. It ensures that membrane molecules are
distributed evenly between daughter cell when a cell
divides