Which macromolecules make up membranes?
- lipids and proteins
- carbohydrates also important
most abundant lipid in most membranes
- phospholipids
amphipathic
- has both a hydrophilic ("water loving") and hydrophobic ("water fearing) region
how can a phospholipid bilayer exist as a stable boundary between two aqueous compartments?
- the molecular arrangement shelters the hydrophobic tails of the phospholipids from water while exposing the hydrophilic heads to water
fluid mosaic model
- describes membrane as fluid, with proteins embedded in or associated with the phospholipid bilayer
plasma membrane
- selectively permeable
- it allows some substances to cross more easily than it does others
membranes are predominantly made of...
- phospholipids and proteins held together by weak interactions
- cause the membrane to be fluid
phospholipids
- provide a hydrophobic barrier that separates the cell from its liquid environment
hydrophilic molecules cannot easily enter the cell, but hydrophobic molecules can
cholesterol
- hydrophobic steroid
- found embedded in animal membranes
- helps membranes resist changes in fluidity when the temperature changes
- at high temp - makes membrane less fluid
- at low temp - helps membrane retain fluidity
proteins
- embedded in the membrane
- can serve as transport channels to move materials across hydrophobic interior of the phospholipid bilayer
- can act as molecular receptors to bind to signaling molecules (ligands)
peripheral proteins
- loosely bound to membrane's surface
- not embedded in the lipid bilayer
membrane carbohydrates
- crucial in cell-cell recognition
- important in the sorting of cells into tissues in an animal embryo
- basis for rejection of foreign cells by the immune system
- short, branched chains
- fewer than 15 sugar units
intergral proteins
- penetrate the hydrophobic interior of the lipid bilayer
glycolipids
- membrane carbohydrate chains covalently bonded to lipids
- short, branched
glycoproteins
- membrane carbohydrate chains covalently bonded to proteins
integrins
- cell-surface receptor proteins
non-polar molecules (hydrophobic)...
- can dissolve in the hydrophobic interior of the phospholipid bilayer
- cross the membrane easily
- examples: hydrocarbons, oxygen, carbon dioxide
hydrophobic core of the membrane...
- impedes the passage of ions and polar molecules (hydrophilic)
transport proteins
- enable hydrophilic substances to avoid the lipid bilayer and pass through
- span the membrane
- are specific, like enzymes, for the substances they transport
aquaporins
- transport (channel) proteins
- accelerate the speed at which water can cross membranes (three billion water molecules per second)
passive diffusion
- substance travels from where it is more concentrated to where it is less concentrated
- diffuses down its concentration gradient
- does not require energy
- relies only on the thermal motion energy intrinsic to the molecule in question
concentration gradient
- process in which particles move from an area of high concentration to low concentration
- region along which the density of a chemical substance increases or decreases
osmosis
- the diffusion of water across a selectively permeable membrane
- water diffuses from the solution with the less concentrated solute to that of the more concentrated solute
isotonic solution
- no net movement of water across the plasma membrane
- water crosses the membrane at the same rate in both directions
hypertonic solution
- cell loses water to surroundings (shrivels, may die)
- more solutes in the water around the cell
hypotonic solution
- water will enter the cell faster than it leaves (will swell and may burst)
- fewer solutes around the cell
water moves from...
Hypo-> Hyper
ions and polar molecules...
- cannot move easily across the membrane
facilitated diffusion
- process by which ions and polar molecules diffuse across the membrane with the help of transport proteins
how do transport proteins work?
- provide a hydrophilic channel through which the molecules in question can pass
- bind loosely to molecules in question and carry them through the membrane
active transport
- substances are moved against their concentration gradient
- low concentration -> high concentration
- requires energy, usually in the form of ATP
sodium-potassium pump
- good example of active transport
- transmembrane protein
- pumps sodium out of the cell and potassium ions into the cell
- necessary for proper nerve transmission and is a major energy consumer in the body
membrane potential
- difference in electrical charge across a membrane
- expressed in voltage
- inside of the cell is negatively charged compared with outside the cell
why are positively charged ions on the outside of the cell attracted to the inside of the cell?
- inside of cell is negatively charged
what two forces drive the diffusion of ions across a membrane?
- chemical force - ion's concentration gradient
- voltage gradient across the membrane - attracts positively charged ions and repels negatively charged ions
chemical force
- ion's concentration gradient
voltage gradient
- across the membrane
- attracts positively charged ions and repels negatively charged ions
combination of forces acting on ion forms...
- electrochemical gradient
cotransport
- ATP pump that transports a specific solute indirectly drives the transport of other substances
- substance that was initially pumped across the membrane can do work as it moves back across the membrane by diffusion
- brings with it a second compound against gradient
carrier protein
- change shape in a way that shuttles their "passengers" across the membrane
channel proteins
- function by having a hydrophilic channel that certain molecules or ions use as a tunnel through the membrane
large molecules are moved across the cell membrane through...
- exocytosis and endocytosis
both processes require energy
exocytosis
- vesicles from the cell's interior fuse with the cell membrane
- expelling contents
endocytosis
- cell forms new vesicles from the plasma membrane
- allows the cell to take in macromolecules
- examples: engulfing of foreign particles by white blood cells or amoebas
- reverse of exocytosis
examples of molecules that pass through phospholipid bilayer using simple diffusion
- CO2
- O2
examples of molecules that pass through phospholipid bilayer using carrier proteins
- glucose
examples of molecules that pass through phospholipid bilayer using channel proteins
- H+ ions (protein pump)
bulk transport
- moves large molecules
- exocytosis and endocytosis
- requires energy
what is meant by membrane fluidity?
- membranes are not static sheets of molecules locked rigidly in place
- they move and shift sideways, hence the "fluid" classification
how can decrease in temperature affect membrane fluidity?
- membrane becomes more solid
- phospholipids settle into closely packed arrangement
how do phospholipids with unsaturated hydrocarbon chains affect membrane fluidity?
- with temperature decrease, membrane still remains fluid
- kinks in tails don't allow the phospholipids to pack tightly together
how does cholesterol affect membrane fluidity?
- acts as a "fluidity buffer"
- resists changes in membrane fluidity that can be caused by changes in temperature
- at low temperatures - hinders solidification by disrupting the regular packing of phospholipids
- at moderate temperatures - reduces phospholipid movement, reducing membrane fluidity
how do phospholipids with saturated hydrocarbon chains affect membrane fluidity?
- saturated carbon tails pack together, increasing membrane viscosity
major functions of membrane proteins
- transport
- enzymatic activity
- signal transduction
- cell-cell recognition
- intercellular joining
- attachment to cytoskeleton and ECM
transport
- proteins guide and pump substances across the membrane using energy
enzymatic activity
- enzymes in membrane organized into teams to carry out sequential steps of metabolic pathway
signal transduction
- signaling molecule binds to receptor
- may cause receptor to change shape
- allows message to be relayed
cell-cell recognition
- glycoproteins act as identification tags
- recognized by membrane proteins of other cells
intercellular joining
- membrane proteins hook together to those of the adjacent cell
attachment to cytoskeleton and ECM
- cytoskeleton elements bind to membrane proteins
- maintains cell shape
- stabilizes protein location
- proteins bind to ECM
- coordinate cellular changes outside or inside cell
integrins
- cell surface receptor proteins
cytoskeleton microfilaments
- thin, solid rods
- form structural networks when certain proteins bind along the side of other filaments
ECM fibers
- made up of glycoproteins
- embedded in a network woven out of proteoglycans
example of transport proteins being specific
- doesn't allow fructose to pass, a structural isomer of glucose
diffusion
- the movement of particles of any substance so that they spread out into the available space
turgid
- healthy state for most plant cells
- very firm
flaccid
- no net tendency for water to enter
- plant wilts
- limp
plasmolysis
- plasma membrane pulls away from the cell wall at multiple places as plant cell shrivels
- causes plant to wilt and can lead to plant death
why does the plant cell not burst like the red blood cell when placed in a hypotonic solution?
- the plant cell has a cell wall
- uptake of water is eventually balanced by the wall pushing back on the cell
summary: sodium-potassium pump
- cytoplasmic Na+ binds to sodium-potassium pump
- binding of 3 Na+ stimulates phosphorylation by ATP
- phosphorylation leads to change in protein shape - Na+ is released
- new shape attracts K+ - K+ binds to extracellular side, triggers release of the phosphate group
- phosphate group restores protein's OG shape
- 2 K+ released, cycle repeats with affinity for Na+ once again
receptor-mediated endocytosis
- enables the cell to acquire bulk quantities of specific substances
- specialized type of pinocytosis
- key feature: receptor sites that bind with specific solutes
phagocytosis
- a cell engulfs a particle by extending a pseudopodia fluid around it, and packaging it within food vesicle
pinocytosis
- cell continually gulps droplets of extracellular fluid into tiny vesicles formed by infolding of plasma membrane