Life at the Edge

The plasma membrane is the boundary that separates the living cell
from its surroundings
A cell must exchange materials with its surroundings, a process
controlled by the plasma membrane
The plasma membrane exhibits selective permeability, allowing some
substances to cross it more easily than others

Concept 7.1: Structure! Cellular membranes

are fluid mosaics of lipids and proteins
Phospholipids are the
most abundant lipid in
the plasma
membrane, so they
determine most of its
properties
Phospholipids are
amphipathic
molecules, containing
hydrophobic and
hydrophilic regions
A phospholipid bilayer
can exist as a stable
boundary between two
aqueous
compartments

The fluid mosaic model states that a membrane is a

fluid structure made up of lipids and cholesterol with a
mosaic of embedded proteins and associated lipids
The proteins are not randomly distributed in the membrane
Phospholipids and proteins in the plasma membrane can
move within the bilayer

Cell membranes must be fluid to work properly; they

are usually about as fluid as salad oil
As temperatures cool, membranes can switch from a fluid to a solid
The temperature at which a membrane solidifies depends on the
types of lipids
Membranes rich in unsaturated fatty acids are more fluid than those
rich in saturated fatty acids

Most of the lipids, and some proteins, drift laterally (rarely,

they can move between membranes, known as a flip-flop)

Role of cholesterol in maintaining membrane fluidity

The steroid cholesterol has different effects on membrane fluidity at
different temperatures
At warm temperatures (such as 37C), cholesterol restrains movement
of phospholipids (fills space in kinks left by cis-bonds)
At cool temperatures, it maintains fluidity by preventing tight packing

Membrane Proteins and Their Functions

A biological membrane is a collage of different proteins, often
grouped together, embedded in the fluid matrix of the lipid bilayer
Proteins determine most of the membranes specific functions
About a third of the mammalian genome encodes membrane proteins
and 60% of approved drugs target membrane proteins
Integral proteins penetrate the
hydrophobic core
If they go through only one
lipid layer, they are known as
anchored proteins
Integral proteins that span the
entire membrane are called
transmembrane proteins

Peripheral proteins are bound to

the surface of the membrane

Six major functions of membrane proteins

Membrane Proteins: Structures

The hydrophobic
regions of an integral
or anchored protein
consist of nonpolar
amino acids, often
coiled into alpha
helices
Multipass
transmembrane
proteins can regulate
their structure (and
therefore function) in
response to signaling
events

N-terminus

EXTRACELLULAR
SIDE

helix
C-terminus

CYTOPLASMIC
SIDE

Figure 7.6
2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

 Membrane proteins are clinically relevant

HIV must bind to the immune cell surface protein CD4 and a coreceptor protein called CCR5 in order to infect
a cell
HIV cannot enter the cells of resistant individuals that lack CCR5

The Role of Membrane Carbohydrates in CellCell Recognition

Cells recognize each other by
binding to molecules, often
containing carbohydrates, on the
extracellular surface of the plasma
membrane
Membrane carbohydrates may be
covalently bonded to lipids
(forming glycolipids) or more
commonly to proteins (forming
glycoproteins)
Carbohydrates on the external
side of the plasma membrane
vary among species, individuals,
and even cell types in an
individual

The ABO blood type is one of

the most familiar cell-cell
recognition system based on
glycolipid expression

Synthesis and Sidedness of Membranes

Membranes have
distinct inside and
outside faces
The asymmetrical
distribution of
proteins, lipids,
and associated
carbohydrates in
the plasma
membrane is
determined when
the membrane is
built by the ER
and Golgi
apparatus
The inside of these
organelles becomes the outside of the cell

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Structural_Biochemistry/Carbohydrates/Blood_Type

Concept 7.2: Membrane structure results in

selective permeability
A cell must exchange
materials with its
surroundings!!
Membranes are
selectively permeable
Hydrophobic (nonpolar)
molecules pass through
the membrane easily
Hydrophilic molecules
including ions and polar
molecules, and large
things, like proteins, do not
cross the membrane
easily. We will see in a moment that cells have mechanisms for dealing
with this issue.

Passive Transport
Substances diffusing
down their
concentration gradient
requires no energy.
The diffusion of a
substance across a
biological membrane is
called passive
transport because no
energy is expended by
the cell to make it
happen
If no structures are used
for passive transport, it
is also known as
simple diffusion.

Concept 7.3: Passive transport

Diffusion of material across a membrane using no
energy and without assistance

Diffusion is the
tendency for
molecules to spread
out evenly into the
available space

Although each
molecule moves
randomly, diffusion of
a population of
molecules may be
directional
At dynamic
equilibrium, as many
molecules cross the
membrane in one
direction as in the
other

Effects of Osmosis on Water Balance

Osmosis is the
passive transport of
water across a
selectively
permeable
membrane
Water diffuses
across a membrane
from the region of
lower solute
concentration to the
region of higher
solute
concentration until
the solute
concentration is
equal on both sides

Tonicity is the ability of a surrounding solution to cause a

cell to gain or lose water by osmosis
Isotonic solution: Solute
concentration is the same
as that inside the cell; no
net water movement
across the plasma
membrane (normal for
animal cells, but wilts plant
cells).

Animals

Tonicity is the ability of a surrounding solution to cause a

cell to gain or lose water by osmosis

Plants
Animals

Hypertonic solution:
Solute concentration is
greater than that inside the
cell; cell loses water. This
causes crenulation
(shriveling) in animal cells
and plasmolysis in plant
cells (and usually kills a
cell)

Hypertonic or hypotonic environments create osmotic

problems for organisms in aquatic environments
Osmoregulation, the control of solute concentrations and
water balance, is a necessary adaptation for life in such
environments
The protist Paramecium, which is hypertonic to its pond
water environment, has a contractile vacuole that acts as a
pump
50 m
Contractile vacuole

Plants

Hypotonic
solution: Solute
concentration is
less than that
inside the cell; cell
gains water. This
can lyse and kill
animal cells.
In plants, turgor
pressure is used to
create structure by osmotic cell swelling,
counterbalanced by the stiff cell wall.

Facilitated Diffusion: Passive Transport Aided by

Transport Proteins

Transport proteins speed or

regulate the passive
movement of molecules across
a membrane and allow
movement of hydrophilic
molecules across a membrane.

2 Types:
channel proteins
carrier proteins

A transport protein is usually

highly specific
Facilitated diffusion is still
passive because solutes
moves down a concentration
gradient, and the transport
requires no energy

Prevention of Hospital-Acquired Hyponatremia: Do We

Have the Answers?

Channel proteins, have a hydrophilic channel that molecules

or ions can use as a tunnel. They can be highly specific.

Michael L. Moritz, MDa,

Juan Carlos Ayus, MDb

Channel proteins called

aquaporins facilitate the
passage of water

Hyponatremia (serum sodium < 135 mEq/L) is the most

frequently occurring electrolyte abnormality in children and
affects 25% of hospitalized patients.1,2The majority of the
hyponatremia seen in children is hospital acquired3 and
occurs in children who are receiving hypotonic intravenous
fluids.4 A serious complication of hyponatremia is acute
hyponatremic encephalopathy, for which children are at
particularly high risk because of their larger
brain/intracranial-volume ratio.5 There have been numerous
reports of death and permanent neurologic injury from
hospital-acquired hyponatremia, all of which have been
associated with administration of hypotonic fluids.

Ion channels facilitate

the diffusion of ions

Transport Proteins promote and regulate

passage of material across the membrane
Carrier proteins, bind to
molecules and change
shape to shuttle them
across the membrane,
down their concentration
gradient. No energy is
required.

Some ion channels,

called gated
channels, open or
close in response to
a stimulus.
Triggers include
voltage, light,
mechanical strain,
and ligand binding.
Nerve impulses are created by the opening of a voltage gated sodium
channel.

Graves Disease is an autoimmune disorder, affecting the

thyroid gland, caused by antibodies against a carrier
protein located in the mitochondrial membrane.

Carrier proteins undergo a

subtle change in shape
that translocates the
solute-binding site across
the membrane
Carrier proteins facilitate
transfer of many
substances including ions,
metabolites and sugars