HSS 2305 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Neurotransmission, Membrane Protein, Integral Membrane Protein

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Health Sciences
• Course: HSS 2305
• Professor: Francois Cossette

Document Summary

The red blood cell: an example of the plasma membrane structure. Defects on ion channels and transporters as a cause of inherited disease. It is suited to prevent the loss of charged and polar solutes from a cell: some special provision must be made to allow movement of nutrients, ions, waste products, and other compounds, in and out of the cell. Substances that travel through the pore are non polar: mutations in the genes encoding ions channels can lead to many serious diseases, such as cystic fibrosis. Figure 4. 33 (a) simple diffusion through the bilayer, which always proceeds from high to low concentration. (b) simple diffusion through an aqueous channel formed within an integral membrane protein or a cluster of such proteins. As in a, movement is always down a concentration gradient (c) facilitated diffusion in which solute molecules bind specifically to a membrane protein carrier (a facilitative transporter).