Exam 4 - Lecture 8 Flashcards
Membranes define
the boundaries of a cell and its internal
compartments
The 5 Functions of Membranes
- Define boundaries of a cell and organelles and act as
permeability barriers - Serve as sites for biological functions, such as electron
transport - Possess transport proteins that regulate the movement of
substances into and out of cells and organelles - Contain protein molecules that act as receptors to detect
external signals - Provide mechanisms for cell-to-cell contact, adhesion,
and communication
Membranes are effective permeability barriers because
their interior is hydrophobic
what surrounds the whole cell?
the plasma membrane
intracellular membranes do what
compartmentalize functions within the cell
Membranes are associated with specific functions
because
the molecules responsible for the functions are embedded in or localized on membranes
The specific enzymes associated with particular
membranes can be used to characterize a specific
membrane
Membrane Proteins Regulate
the transport of solutes
Membrane proteins carry out and regulate the
transport of substances across the membrane
Cells and organelles take up nutrients, ions, gases,
water, and other substances, and they expel
products and wastes
what are the two ways substances can move into or out of the cell
Some substances diffuse directly across
membranes, whereas others must be moved by
specific transporters
Membrane Proteins Detect and Transmit
Electrical and Chemical Signals
A cell receives information from its environment as
electrical or chemical signals at its surface
Signal transduction describes the mechanisms by which
signals are transmitted from the outer
surface to the interior of a cell
Chemical signal molecules usually bind to
membrane proteins, known as receptors, on the
outer surface of the plasma membrane
describe signal transduction
Binding of signal molecules to their receptors
triggers chemical events on the inner membrane
surface that ultimately lead to changes in cell
function
Membrane receptors allow cells to recognize,
transmit, and respond to a variety of specific
signals in nearly all types of cells
Membrane Proteins Mediate
Cell Adhesion
and Cell-to-Cell Communication
Cell-to-cell contacts, critical in animal development,
are often mediated by
cadherins
cadherins
mediate cell to cell contact
Cadherins have extracellular sequences of amino
acids that bind calcium and promote adhesion
between similar types of cells in a tissue
4 types of junctions
adhesive junctions
tight junctions
gap junctions
plasmodesmata
what do Adhesive junctions do
hold cells together
Tight junctions form
seals that block the passage of
fluids between cells
Gap junctions allow for
communication between
adjacent animal cells
plasmodesmata are present in
plants
describe the fluid mosaic model
The model envisions a membrane as two fluid
layers of lipids with proteins within and on the
layers
Overton and Langmuir
Lipids Are Important
Components of Membranes
Overton: cell surface had some kind
of lipid “coat” on it
Langmuir: phospholipids
areamphipathic
Gorter and Grendel:
The Basis of Membrane
Structure Is a Lipid Bilayer
Structure is a lipid bilayer, with the
nonpolar regions of the lipids facing
inward