membranes and lipids Flashcards
describe the 2D fluid mosaic of membrane structure
lipids form bilayer in 2D sea which proteins float in and can move around
describe the formation of the lipids in the bilayer
headgroups of the lipids are hydrophilic and (polar) are on the outside
lipid tails are hydrophobic (non polar) and stay in the middle of the layer
what is the most abundant phospholipid in cells and what are they derived from
glycerophospholipids derived from glycerol-3-phosphate
give examples of different types of lipids
PIP glycerophospholipids sphingolipids glycosphingolipids sterols cholesterol
what are fatty acid chains and why are they unique
they are made by acetate and added via CoE A
what are sphingolipids made from
sphenoid base, N acyl chain and head group
what characteristic of sphinoglipids allows them to interact with polar molecules or cholesterol
can form hydrogen bonds
explain the structure and role of glycopsphingolipids (glycolipds)
composed mainly of sugars
make around 5% of outer leaflet of the membrane
they play an important role in cell to cell adhesion and can act as recognition sites
what are gangliocydes
they are abundant in the brain, they are a sphingosine plus sugar groups which can present receptors - they attach to lipid rafts and only found on the outer surface of the membrane
where is cholesterol found in animal membranes
between the lipid molecules
what is a lipid raft
they are subdomains of the plasma membrane which contains high concentrations of cholesterol and glycosphingolipids
what are the functional significances of lipid rafts
can attach receptors
can drift
what are caveolae
a type of lipid raft which invaginate the cell membrane which can contain many proteins and can be used for taking up nutrients
what is lipid bilayer asymmetry
the fact that the monolayers that make up the bilayer an have different structures within them
why does lipid interdigitation occur
due to lipid length asymmetry which reduces the lipid bilayer thickness
what are translocaze enzymes
flip phospholipids across the membrane
what do scrambles enzymes do
randomise the normal distribution and oppose translocaze enzymes
what does phosphatidylserine do in apoptosis and blood clotting
acts as a pro coagulation surface. it is externalised by collagen and thrombin mediated activity
externalisation of phos.. can also lead to recognition of cell and therefore apoptosis
what causes membrane curvature
the relative size of the head group and the tail affect the shape fo the bilayer and the curvature
why is spontaneous negative curvature a bad thing
can lead to bilayer disrupting properties which can lead to fusion and non-bilayer intermediates
what is the role of desaturates
introduce double bonds into fatty acids
what are the three types of membrane proteins
integral (intrinsic) membrane protein (span inside and out)
lipid linked membrane protein
peripheral (extrinsic membrane protein (only found on one side)
what is the structure of integral membrane proteins
what is the problem with extracting them
can be single or multiple transmembrane segments - these regions are mainly made up of amino acids and hydrophobic side chains
extracting them will disrupt the membrane using organic solvents or detergents
what are PIP lipids
head group phosphorylation at position 3 4 and 5
PIP(4,5)2 is most abundant
found in the inner leaflet of the membrane
they usually face inside of the cell and are signalling molecules for cascade pathways