Animal Cell Physiology

THE PLASMA MEMBRANE

OBJECTIVES
Distinguish between cytoplasm and cytosol.

Explain the concept of selective permeability.

Define the electrochemical gradient and describe its components

Structure of the Plasma Membrane

The Lipid Bilayer
The basic structural framework of the plasma membrane is the lipid bilayer, two back-to-back
layers made up of three types of lipid moleculesphospholipids, cholesterol, and glycolipids.
About 75% of the membrane lipids are phospholipids, lipids that contain phosphorus.
Present in smaller amounts are cholesterol(about 20%), a steroid with an attached OH (hydroxyl)
group, and various glycolipids(about 5%), lipids with attached carbohydrate groups.
The bilayer arrangement occurs because the lipids are amphipathic molecules, which means that
they have both polar and nonpolar parts. In phospholipids, the polar part is the phosphatecontaining head, which is hydrophilic.
The nonpolar parts are the two long fatty acid tails, which are hydrophobic hydrocarbon chains.

Arrangement of Membrane Proteins

Membrane proteins are classified as integral or peripheral according to whether they are firmly embedded in
the membrane (Figure 3.2).
Integral proteinsextend into or through the lipid bilayer among the fatty acid tails and are firmly embedded in
it.
Most integral proteins are transmembrane proteins,which means that they span the entire lipid bilayer and
protrude into both the cytosol and extracellular fluid.
A few integral proteins are tightly attached to one side of the bilayer by covalent bonding to fatty acids. Like
membrane lipids, integral membrane proteins are amphipathic.
Their hydrophilic regions protrude into either the watery extracllular fluid or the cytosol, and their hydrophobic
regions extend among the fatty acid tails.

 As their name implies, peripheral proteins are not as firmly embedded in the membrane.

They are attached to the polar heads of membrane lipids or to integral proteins at the inner
or outer surface of the membrane.
Many integral proteins are glycoproteins,proteins with carbohydrate groups attached to the ends
that protrude into the extracellular fluid.
The carbohydrates are oligosaccharides (oligo-few; -saccharides sugars), chains of 2 to 60
monosaccharides that may be straight or branched.
The carbohydrate portions of glycolipids and glycoproteins form an extensive sugary coat
called the glycocalyx.
The pattern of carbohydrates in the glycocalyx varies from one cell to another. Therefore, the
glycocalyx acts like a molecular signature that enables cells to recognize one another.

Functions of Membrane Proteins

Generally, the types of lipids in cellular membranes vary only slightly.
In contrast, the membranes of different cells and various
intracellular organelles have remarkably different assortments of
proteins that determine many of the membranes functions

 Some integral proteins form ion channels, pores or holes that specific ions, such as potassium
ions (K), can flow through to get into or out of the cell. Most ion channels are selective; they
allow only a single type of ion to pass through.
Other integral proteins act as carriers,selectively moving a polar substance or ion from one
side of the membrane to the other. Carriers are also known as transporters.
Integral proteins called receptorsserve as cellular recognition sites. Each type of receptor
recognizes and binds a specific type of molecule. For instance, insulin receptors bind the
hormone insulin. A specific molecule that binds to a receptor is called a ligand of that
receptor.

 Some integral proteins are enzymes that catalyze specific chemical reactions at the inside or outside
surface of the cell.
Integral proteins may also serve as linkers that anchor proteins in the plasma membranes of neighboring
cells to one another or to protein filaments inside and outside the cell. Peripheral proteins also serve as
enzymes and linkers.
Membrane glycoproteins and glycolipids often serve as cellidentity markers. They may enable a cell to
(1) recognize other cells of the same kind during tissue formation or (2) recognize and respond to
potentially dangerous foreign cells.

The ABO blood type markers are one example of cell-identity markers. When you receive a blood
transfusion, the blood type must be compatible with your own, or red blood cells may clump together.

Membrane Permeability

The term permeablemeans that a structure permits the passage

of substances through it, while impermeable means that a structure does
not permit the passage of substances through it.
The permeability of the plasma membrane to different substances
varies.
Plasma membranes permit some substances to pass more readily than
others.
This property of membranes is termed selective permeability

 The lipid bilayer portion of the membrane is permeable to nonpolar, uncharged

molecules, such as oxygen, carbon dioxide, and steroids, but is impermeable to ions and
large, uncharged polar molecules such as glucose.
It is also slightly permeable to small, uncharged polar molecules such as water and urea,
a waste product from the breakdown of amino acids.
The slight permeability to water and urea is an unexpected property since they are polar
molecules.

 These two small molecules are thought to pass through the lipid
bilayer in the following way.
As the fatty acid tails of membrane phospholipids and glycolipids
randomly move about, small gaps briefly appear in the
hydrophobic environment of the membranes interior.
Water and urea molecules are small enough to move from one
gap to another until they have crossed the membrane

3.3TRANSPORT ACROSS
THE PLASMA MEMBRANE
OBJECTIVE
Describe the processes that transport substances
across the
plasma membrane
Substances generally move across cellular membranes via
transport processes that can be classified as passive or active, depending on whether
they require cellular energy.
In passive processes, a substance moves down its concentration or electrical gradient
to cross the membrane using only its own kinetic energy (energy of motion).
Kinetic energy is intrinsic to the particles that are moving.
There is no input of energy from the cell.
An example is simple diffusion.

 In active processes,cellular energy is used to drive the substance uphill

against its concentration or electrical gradient.
The cellular energy used is usually in the form of adenosine triphosphate
(ATP).
An example is active transport.
Another way that some substances may enter and leave cells is an active
process in which tiny, spherical membrane sacs referred to as vesiclesare
used.
Examples include endocytosis, in which vesicles detach from the plasma
membrane while bringing materials into a cell, and exocytosis, the
merging of vesicles with the plasma membrane to release materials from
the cell

Simple Diffusion

Simple diffusionis a passive process in which substances move freely through

the lipid bilayer of the plasma membranes of cells without the help of
membrane transport proteins
Facilitated Diffusion

Solutes that are too polar or highly charged to move through the lipid bilayer
by simple diffusion can cross the plasma membrane by a passive process
called facilitated diffusion.
In this process, an integral membrane protein assists a specific substance
across the membrane.
The integral membrane protein can be either a membrane channel or a
carrier

Osmosis
Osmosis is a type of diffusion in which there is net movement of a solvent through a
selectively permeable membrane.
During osmosis, water molecules pass through a plasma membrane in two ways:

(1) by moving between neighboring phospholipid molecules in the lipid bilayer via
simple diffusion, as previously described, and
(2) by moving through aquaporins integral membrane proteins that function as water
channels.

Active Processes
Active Transport
Active transport is considered an active process because energy is required for
carrier proteins to move solutes across the membrane against a concentration
gradient.
Two sources of cellular energy can be used to drive active transport:
(1) Energy obtained from hydrolysis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is the
source in primary active transport;
(2) energy stored in an ionic concentration gradient is the source in secondary
active transport.

PRIMARY ACTIVE TRANSPORT

In primary active transport, energy derived from hydrolysis of ATP changes

the shape of a carrier protein, which pumps a substance across a plasma
membrane against its concentration gradient.