BIO1011 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Liposome, Cell Signaling, Membrane Protein
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Lecture 6 - Cells and Membranes
Living things
● Are organised into cells
○ Prokaryotes and eukaryotes
● Must maintain an internal environment
○ Without barriers, life’s components would simply diffuse away
Prokaryote vs. Eukaryote
● Prokaryotes
○ Generally smaller
○ Bacteria are usually prokaryotes
○ Nucleoid (floating DNA)
○ Capsule
○ Circular DNA
○ Cell wall and cell membrane
● Eukaryotes
○ Usually larger
○ Membrane bound nucleus
○ Complex endomembranes
○ Linear DNA
○ Membrane-bound organelles
○ Plants also have cell wall and chloroplasts
Overview of membranes
● Water is polar
○ Oxygen molecule tends to drag electrons away from the hydrogen
● Main component of membrane is a phospholipid
○ Amphipathic molecule
○ Head is hydrophilic (charged), tail is hydrophobic (uncharged)
● The phospholipids arrange themselves into a bilayer sheet, a liposome or a
micelle
○ Initially a liposome that is a ring of tail-facing phospholipids containing
water in the centre
Membrane components - fluid mosaic model
● Fluid because phospholipids are moving around, not rigid
● Proteins embedded in the membrane is the mosaic component
Membrane structure & function
● Diverse phospholipids comprise the bilayer (omega 3 vs. omega 6 fatty acids
are used in a ratio to make up the bilayer)
● Other lipid components
○ Glycolipids - fatty acid with sugar (hydrophilic) attached used for cell-
cell signalling
○ Cholesterol - increases fluidity (at low temps) reduces fluidity - makes
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Document Summary
Without barriers, life"s components would simply diffuse away. Plants also have cell wall and chloroplasts. Main component of membrane is a phospholipid. Oxygen molecule tends to drag electrons away from the hydrogen. Head is hydrophilic (charged), tail is hydrophobic (uncharged) The phospholipids arrange themselves into a bilayer sheet, a liposome or a micelle. Initially a liposome that is a ring of tail-facing phospholipids containing water in the centre. Fluid because phospholipids are moving around, not rigid. Proteins embedded in the membrane is the mosaic component. Diverse phospholipids comprise the bilayer (omega 3 vs. omega 6 fatty acids. Other lipid components are used in a ratio to make up the bilayer) Glycolipids - fatty acid with sugar (hydrophilic) attached used for cell- cell signalling. Cholesterol - increases fluidity (at low temps) reduces fluidity - makes stable (at high temps) Unsaturated tails stick out and pull membrane apart somewhat.