BIO 3153 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Lipid Raft, Lipid Bilayer, Phosphatidylcholine
Document Summary
If you want to resolve a membrane bilayer using microscopy, you must use electron microscope. Plasma membrane primarily composed of lipid and protein. Protein complexes provide the mosaic" attribute to the membrane. Lipids play quite a major role in signaling as well, enrich the function of the membrane via the expression of certain phospholipids. Phospholipids also provide an impermeable barrier, lets in only certain substances (water, gases, etc. ) Aquaporins transport water without the allowance for protons (ie, ph doesn"t change) Membrane is selectively permeable: addition of proteins allows for certain agents to go in and out of the cell. Chemical structure helps to determine the fluidity of the membrane. Many phospholipids have a kink in the tail, caused by it being unsaturated. This allows for a little more space between phospholipid molecules. Because of this, they are amphipathic; they have polar and non-polar regions.
