Cell membrane

- plasma membrane is selectively permeable, which means it allows some substances to

cross more easily than others.

Fluid Mosaic Model, because its made up of a phospholipid bilayer,

allowing it easily to bend and move along without breaking or ripping the membrane
- Fluid: membrane held together by weak interactions
- mosaic: phospholipids, proteins, carbs

-Phospholipid bilayer between 2 protein layers. Amphipathic= hydrophobic tail,

hydrophilic head
The hydrophobic barrier keeps hydrophilic molecules out.
- it s a bilayer because it gives structure to the cell and allows for the passage of
nutrients and wastes into and out of the cell. The purpose of the bilayer membrane is
to separate the cell contents from the outside environment.

Membrane uidity

- Saturated hydrocarbons have a straight shape, which allow lipids to pack closely
together.
- The double unsaturated fatty acids tails bend its structure so the molecules are less
straight and more loosely packed. .
- At low temperature, the fatty acid tails of the phospholipids move less and become
more rigid. This decreases the overall uidity of the membrane, also decreasing its
permeability and potentially restricting entry of important molecules into the cell.
- At high temperatures the fatty acids become loose and increase uidity.

- Cholesterol acts as a bu er preventing lower temperatures from inhibiting uidity and

preventing higher temperatures from increasing uidity.

Membrane proteins
- Integral proteins: embedded in membrane, and are determined by freeze fracture. One
region interacts with the hydrophobic core. Trans membrane with hydrophilic heads/
tails and hydrophobic middles
- Peripheral proteins: extra cellular, and not embedded. Do not interact with the
hydrophobic core. Held in place by cytoskeleton or ECM. Provides stronger
framework.
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 - some functions include:
- transport
- enzymatic activity
- signal transduction
- cell to cell recognition

Membrane Carbohydrates

- function: cell to cell recognition and developing organisms

- Glycolipids and glycoproteins

The selective permeability allows small molecules (polar or non-polar) to cross easily
(hydrocarbons, hydrophobic molecules, CO2,o2)
Hydrophobic core prevents passage of ions and large polar molecules

Passive Transport

- No energy is needed
- Di usion down concentration gradient (high to low)
- E.g: hydrocarbons

Simple di usion

- the ability of substances to move across a membrane unassisted,

- Very small non-polar molecules, such as O2 and CO2 are readily soluble in the
hydrophobic interior of a membrane and therefore move rapidly from one side to the
other.
- Non-polar steroids hormones, and non polar drugs, water and glycerol.

Facilitated Di usion

- Transport proteins help hydrophilic substances cross

- When equilibrium is reached and there is no longer a concentration gradient,
facilitated di usion stops.
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- Carried by transport proteins.
- They either provide a hydrophilic channel or loosely carry molecules across
- Channel Proteins form hydrophilic pathways in the membrane through which water
and certain ions can pass.
- Carrier proteins also form passageways through the lipid bilayer. Each carrier protein
binds to a speci c solute, such as glucose, and transports it across he lipid bilayer. The
carrier proteins changes shape when transporting, allowing the solute to move from
one side of the membrane to another. This change distinguishes how carrier and
channel proteins function.
- Eg: H2O, glucose
- Aquaporin is a protein that allows passage of water
- Glucose Transport Protein

Osmosis is the di usion of H2O

- The inward and outward movement of water by osmosis develops forces that can
cause cels to swell or shrink.
- Water always di uses from an area of lower concentration to an area of higher
concentration.
- If the solution that is surrounding a cell contains dissolved substances at lower
concentrations than they are in the cell, the solution is said to be hypotonic to the
cells. Water enters by osmosis and tends to swell.
- A solution that is surrounding the cells contains higher dissolved substances at higher
concentrations than they are in the cell, the solution is said to be hypertonic to the
cell.
- The concentration of water inside and outside cells is often equal or isotonic.

Active Transport

- Requires energy
- Proteins transport substances against concentration gradient (low concentration to high
concentration)
- Using pumps, active transport is able to concentrate speci c compounds inside cells
and push others out.
- Ele to genetic pumps: generate voltage across a membrane
- Divided into two categories:
- Primary: directly uses chemical energy (such as from adenosine triphosphate or
ATP in case of cell membrane) to transport all species of solutes across a
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 membrane against their concentration gradient. Proton pump - pushes protons
(H+) across membrane
- Secondary: uses concentration gradient of an ion, established by a primary pump,
as its energy source. Na+/K+ Pump (pumps sodium and potassium ions into cell
by nerve transmission). Ex: the driving force for most secondary active transport
in animal cells is the high outside/low inside Na+ gradient set up by the sodium‒
potassium pump. Facilitated by two mechanisms:
- Symport (consta, a solute moves through the membrane channel in the
same direction as the driving ion.
- Antiport: driving ion moves through membrane channel in one
direction, providing energy for the active transport of another
molecule in the opposite direction.

Exocytosis And Endocytosis

- Eukaryotic cells can export and import larger molecules by two mechanisms called:
Exocytosis And Endocytosis.
- The export of materials by exocytosis carries secretory proteins and some waste
materials from the cytosol to the exterior of a cell.
- Import by endocytosis carries proteins, larger aggregates of molecules, or even whole
cells from the exterior of a cell into cytosol.
- Both exocytosis and endocytosis require energy.
- In exocytosis secretory vesicles move through the cytosol and contact the plasma
membrane. The vehicle membrane fuses with the plasma bombarded, releasing the
contents of the vesicle to the exterior of the cell.
- In endocytosis, proteins and other substances are trapped in a pit like depression that
bulges inward from the plasma membrane. The depression then pinches o as an
endocytic vesicle.
- simple endocytosis pathway (pinocytosis): extracellular water is taken in
along with any molecules that happen in the solution in water.
- second endocytic pathway (Receptor- Mediated Endocytosis): the
molecules to be take in are bound to the outer cell surface by receptors proteins. The
receptors only bind to certain molecules like proteins and molecules carried by proteins.
After binding the receptors collect into a pit coated with a network of proteins that
reinforce the cytosol side.
- third type of endocytosis (phagocytosis): cells engulf bacteria, part of dead
cells, viruses, or other foreign particles. The pathway is most commonly performed by a
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macrophage, a type of white blood cell that helps to ght infection by engul ng invading
organisms or particles.

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