Chapter 7 Flashcards
Plasma Membrane
- selectively permeable
- bilayer of phospholipids
- colder temperatures (depending on lipids) = fluid membrane becomes more solid
- more unsaturated fatty acids = more fluid membrane
- must be fluid to properly function
- have distinct inside and outside faces determined when formed by ER and Golgi
- hydrophobic (nonpolar) molecules can pass easy, like oxygen
- hydrophillic (polar) molecules need transport proteins to pass through, like sugar
Phospholipids
- amphipathic, means they have hydrophillic heads and hydrophobic tails; needed for membrane to be selectively permeable
- most abundant lipid in membrane
- are able to move within the bilayer, creating fluidity
- usually shift laterally, rarely flipper to other side of membrane
- unsaturated makes tails bent (which creates distance between phospholipids which creates fluidity), saturated makes tails extremely straight
Integral proteins
- imbedded in cell membrane
- has hydrophillic region - part that sticks out of the membrane, and hydrophobic region - part that is within the bilayer
- if they span the membrane, they are called transmembrane proteins
Fluid mosaic model
- theory for cell membrane structure proposed by Singer and Nicolson
- where proteins are imbedded within the bilayer
- free fracture procedure (splitting membrane bilayer apart) proved this correct
Cholesterol
- amongst the phospholipids in a membrane
- when temperatures get hot, cholesterol restricts fluidity, holding membrane together
- when temperatures get cold, cholesterol maintains fluidity, preventing tight packing of phospholipids
Membrane proteins
- drift in bilayer, more slowly than lipids because bigger
include: peripheral proteins - not embedded and on either surface of membrane and integral proteins
Six major membrane protein functions
- transport
- enzymatic activity
- signal transduction
- cell-cell recognition
- intercellular joining
- attachment to the cytoskeleton and extracellular matrix (ECM)
Membrane carbohydrates
- is the main molecule on the plasma membrane that helps with cell to cell recognition
includes: glycolipids - carbohydrates covalently bonded to lipids, or glycoproteins - carbohydrates covalently bonded to proteins - vary among species / individuals
Transport proteins
- helps hydrophillic substances get through membrane
includes: channel proteins - hydrophilic channel that molecules or ions can use as a tunnel, carrier proteins - bind to molecules and change shape to transport across membrane - aquaporins: channel proteins that transport water
- specific for the substances they move
Passive transport
- diffusion of substance across membrane without using energy
- includes when substances move down their concentration gradient (not against it)
Diffusion
- tendency for molecules to spread out evenly into available space
- molecules can move randomly as individuals, but as a population they can have a general, all-together direction
- dynamic equilibrium: the same # of molecules that cross one way also cross in the other direction
- substances diffuse down their concentration gradient, like sliding down a hill
Osmosis
- diffusion of water across a selectively permeable membrane
- direction of process is determined by difference in total solute concentration
- water diffuses from lower to higher solute concentration
What are the three types of solute concentration solutions?
1) hypertonic: outside solute concentration is greater than concentration inside the cell; cell loses water (because it goes from low to high solute concentration)
2) isotonic: outside solute concentration is the same as concentration inside the cell; no water movement
3) hypotonic: solute concentration is less than concentration inside the cell; cell gains water
Why do some cells have osmolarity problems?
- cells without cell walls cannot regulate water intake as well as cells with them
- causes osmolarity problems for these cells in hypotonic and hypertonic solutions
- cells must have adaptations to compensate, like contractile vacuoles
Cell walls (osmolarity and water wise)
- help maintain water balance
- in a hypotonic solution, cell wall it swells until it opposes uptake; the cell is now turgid
- in isotonic solutions, the cell becomes flaccid (limp) and the plant may wilt
- in hypertonic solution, cell loses water; membrane eventually pulls away from the wall, usually killing it the cell - called plasmolysis
Facilitated diffusion
- passive transport (moves down gradient) with the help of transport, channel, or carrier proteins
- transport proteins: speed molecular movement across membrane
- channel proteins: provide corridors that allow a specific molecule or ion to cross the membrane
- carrier proteins: undergo a subtle change in shape that moves the solute-binding site across the membrane
Active transport
- uses energy (ATP) to move solutes AGAINST concentration gradient
- done through some transport proteins or specific proteins embedded in membrane
- sodium-potassium pump is an example; when NA is expelled it changes the proteins shape, then allowing for K to enter (which returns the shape back to NA usable)
Membrane potential
- voltage difference across a membrane
Electrochemical gradient
- two forces that drives ion diffusion across membrane
- chemical force: ion’s concentration gradient
- electrical force: membrane potential effect on ion’s movement
Electrogenic pump
- a transport protein that hydrolyzes ATP and uses the energy released from ATP hydrolysis to transport ions across membranes, which also moves net charge across membrane
- main pump of plants, fungi, and bacteria is a proton pump
- plant cells use hydrogen ion gradient to use active transport to get nutrients inside
Cotransport
- occurs when active transport of one solute indirectly drives transport of another solute
Exocytosis
- handles bulk transport across membrane
- where transport vesicles migrate to the membrane, fuse with it, and release their contents
- secretory cells use this to export their products
How do small and large molecules enter and leave the cell?
- small: through bilayer or by transport proteins
- big (polysaccharides or proteins): by vesicles
Endocytosis
- handles bulk transport across membrane
- where the cell takes in macromolecules by forming vesicles from the plasma membrane
- reversal of exocytosis with different proteins
- 3 types: Phagocytosis (“cellular eating”) - cell engulfs particle in a vacuole, Pinocytosis (“cellular drinking”)- cell creates vesicle around fluid, and Receptor-mediated endocytosis - binding of ligands to receptors triggers vesicle formation