Cell Membranes

Chapt 5

www.cellsalive.com/
The Cell
Membrane

 CellMembrane:

AtVeryHigh
Magnification
&incolor

 Membrane Structure

http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/C/CellMembranes.html

 Cell Membrane
Every cell is encircled by a membrane and most cells
contain an extensive intracellular membrane system.
Membranes fence off the cell's interior from its
surroundings. Membranes let in water, certain ions and
substrates and they excrete waste substances. They act
to protect the cell.
Without a membrane the cell contents would diffuse
into the surroundings, information containing molecules
would be lost and many metabolic pathways would
cease to work:
The cell would die!

www.biologie.unihamburg.de/bonline/e22/22.htm

 Cell Membranes:

Surroundallcells
Fluidlikecompositionlikesoapbubbles
Composedof:
Lipidsinabilayer
Proteinsembeddedinlipidlayer(called
transmembraneproteins)
And,Proteinsfloatingwithinthelipidsea
(calledintegralproteins)
AndProteinsassociatedoutsidethelipid
bilayer(peripheral).

 Membrane Lipids
Composedlargelyofphospholipids
Phospholipidscomposedof.glyceroland
twofattyacids+PO4group
PLipidsarepolarmolecules

PLipidsarerepresentedlikethis

Textpg.81

Membrane Lipids
formaBilayer

Outsidelayer

InsideLayer

 Quiz
IfPhospholipidsarepolar,whichendseeks
outwaterandwhichavoidswater?

Phospholipid Molecule
Model

phosphate (hydrophilic)

glycerol

fatty acids (hydrophobic)

 Membrane Proteins
Integral: embedded within bilayer

Peripheral: reside outside hydrophobic

region of lipids

Textpg.80
 Membrane Proteins

Textpg80

Integral membrane proteins

Peripheral membrane proteins

Integral

 Membrane Models
Fluid Mosaic Model - lipids arranged
in bilayer with proteins embedded or
associated with the lipids.

FluidMosaicMembrane

Textpg80
EvidencefortheFluidMosaic
Model(CellFusion)

MoreEvidencefortheFluidMosaic
Model

 MembraneFunctions
allowsfordifferentconditionsbetween
insideandoutsideofcell
subdividescellintocompartmentswith
differentinternalconditions
allowsreleaseofsubstancesfromcellvia
vesiclefusionwithoutermembrane:
http://www.emc.maricopa.edu/faculty/farabee/BIOBK/exocyt.gif

 MembranePermeability
Biologicalmembranesarephysical
barriers..butwhichallowsmalluncharged
moleculestopass
And,lipidsolublemoleculespassthrough
BigmoleculesandchargedonesdoNOT
passthrough

 Howtogetothermolecules
acrossmembranes??
Therearetwowaysthatthemoleculestypicallymovethrough
themembrane:
passivetransportandactivetransport

Activetransportrequiresthatthecelluseenergythatithas
obtainedfromfoodtomovethemolecules(orlargerparticles)
throughthecellmembrane.
Passivetransportdoesnotrequiresuchanenergy
expenditure,andoccursspontaneously.

MembraneTransportMechanisms
I.PassiveTransport

Diffusionsimplemovementfromregions
ofhighconcentrationtolowconcentration
Osmosisdiffusionofwateracrossasemi
permeablemembrane
Facilitateddiffusionproteintransporters
whichassistindiffusion
Textpg89

MembraneTransportMechanisms
II.ActiveTransport

Activetransportproteinswhichtransport
againstconcentrationgradient.
Requiresenergyinput

Textpg89

 Diffusion

Movementgeneratedbyrandommotionof
particles.Causedbyinternalthermal
energy.
Movementalwaysfromregionofhighfree
energy(highconcentration)toregionsof
lowfreeenergy(lowconc.)
Textpg86

 Osmosis
Movementofwateracross
asemipermeable
barrier.

Example:Saltinwater,
cellmembraneisbarrier.
SaltwillNOTmove
acrossmembrane,water Textpg87
will.

OsmosisinHypertonicmedium

cell

Hypertonicsolutionsshrinkcells

OsmosisinHypotonicmedium

Hypotonicsolutionsswellcells

 Endocytosis
Transportsmacromoleculesandlarge
particlesintothecell.
Partofthemembraneengulfstheparticle
andfoldsinwardtobudoff.

Fig.5.16

 Endocytosis

 PuttingOuttheGarbage
Vesicles(lysosomes,othersecretory
vesicles)canfusewiththemembraneand
openupthetheoutside

 Exocytosis
(CellularSecretion)

 Movies!

 Membrane Permeability
1)lipidsolublesolutesgothroughfaster
1) smallermoleculesgofaster
1)uncharged&weaklychargedgofaster

2)Channelsorporesmayalsoexistin
membranetoallowtransport 1
2

 Cellular Membranes

REVIEW
Importance of Membranes
Membrane Structure
Proteins
Fluid Mosaic model
Permeability
Types of Transport
Passive and Active

Types of Protein Transporters:
Ion Channels
workbyfacilitateddiffusionNoE!
dealwithsmallmolecules...ions
openporesaregatedCanchangeshape.
How?
Howmuchgetsin?
importantincellcommunication

 Ion Channels
Workfast:Noconform.changesneeded
Notsimpleporesinmembrane:
specifictodifferentions(Na,K,Ca...)
gatescontrolopening
Toxins,drugsmayaffectchannels
saxitoxin,tetrodotoxin
cysticfibrosis

Toxinshowtheywork

 Cystic Fibrosis
Fatalgeneticdisorder
Mucusbuildupresultsinlungandliver
failure
Patientsdiebetween4and30yrs.
Singlegenedefect
1in25Caucasianscarry1badgenecopy
1in2500kidshasitinCanada
Testing

 CFCont
~Proteinsfordiffusionofsaltintothe
airwaysdon'twork.

~Lesssaltintheairwaysmeansless
waterintheairways.

~Lesswaterintheairwaysmeans
mucuslayerisvery
sticky(viscous).
~Stickymucuscannotbeeasily
movedtoclearparticlesfromthe
lungs.

~Stickymucustrapsbacteriaand
causesmorelunginfections.

http://www.the-aps.org/education/lot/cell/HotT.htm
Transport Proteins
FacilitatedDiffusion
&ActiveTransport
movesolutesfaster
acrossmembrane
highlyspecificto
specificsolutes
canbeinhibitedby
drugs

 Types of Protein
Transporters
A.FacilitatedDiffusion
Assistindiffusionprocess.
SolutesgofromHighconc
toLowconc.

Examples:Glucosetransporters

http://bio.winona.msus.edu/berg/ANIMTNS/FacDiff.htm
Textpg88
 Facilitated Diffusion
The Glucose Transporters
Transportofglucoseintocellsmediatedbyproteinsinthe
GLUT(GLUcoseTransport)familyoftransporters.There
are7different,butrelated,proteins.But,onlyfour
(GLUT14)areknowntobeinvolvedinglucosetransport.
AllGLUTproteinsshareasetofsimilarstructural
featuresandareallabout500aminoacidsinlength
(givingthemapredictedmolecularweightofabout55,000
Daltons)
Glucoseuptakeshowssaturationandglucoseuptakecan
beinhibitedbydrugs

AclassicMembraneTransportprotein

 Glucose Transporter
Characteristics:
integralprotein:spansthemembrane
12alphaheliceswovenintomembrane
55,000mol.wt.
Textpg.88

 Glucose Transporter:
How it works..
glucosebindstooutsideof
transporter(exteriorside
withhigherglucoseconc.)
glucosebindingcausesa
conform.changeinprotein
glucosedropsoffinside
cell
proteinreassumes1st
configuration

Types of Protein Transporters:
Active Transport
carrierproteins
goagainsttheconcentrationgradientsLow
toHigh
requireEnergytofunction(ATP,PEP,
lightenergy,electrontransport)

 Membrane Transport:
Active transport

Movementfromregionoflowfree
energy(lowconcentration)toregionsof
highfreeenergy(highconc.)
Requiresenergyinput

 Active Transport:
Sodium-Potassium Pump

Na+ Na+
high low

K+ K+
low high

Balance of the two ions goes hand-in-hand

ATP required
for maintenance of
the pump
 Thesodium/potassiumpump
Allnerveandmusclecellshaveahighinternalpotassiumion
concentrationandalowinternalsodiumionconcentration.
[Ki=166mM;Ko=5mM;Nai=18mM;Nao=135mM].
Earlyon,itwasthoughtthatthenerveandmusclemembranes
wererelativelyimpermeabletotheseionsandthatthedifference
inionicconcentrationwassetupinearlydevelopmentofthe
cells.Themembranethenbecameimpermeable.
ThelateravailabilityanduseofradioactiveNaandKions
showedthatthiswasnottrueandthattherewasametabolic
pumpthatpumpedNaoutofthecellandKin;theratiobeing3
Napumpedoutofthecellforevery2Kpumpedintothecell.

 Is a Protein Involved ?
Experimentsshowedadependencyofboth
NaandKionsforpumptowork
Pumpwasinhibitedbyouabain(adrug)
1957:anATPaseenzymewasfoundtobe
associatedwithNa/Kpumping
StudiesshowedthisATPasecapableof
pumpingNa/Kions
Textpg90

 Sodium/Potassium
ATPase Protein
Madeof2largeand2smallsubunits
2largeunitsspanmembrane
insideregion:containsATPbindingsite
inside:bindingsitesforNa
outside:bindingsiteforK

Howdoesitwork??

 SodiumPotassiumPump

Textpg.90

http://www.cat.cc.md.us/courses/bio141/lecguide/unit1/eustruct/sppump.html
 NaKPumpModel:PartI

3Na+bindtoinnerregionofprotein
Na+bindingtriggersphosphorylationof
protein.ATPADP+Pi
Phosphorylationcausesconformationchange
andNa+bindingsitefacesoutside
3Na+releasedtooutside

 NaKActivePump:PartII
2K+ionsonoutsideareabletobind
K+bindingcausesdephosphorylationand
newconformationchange
2K+ionsexposedtoinsideandreleased
CyclicprocessusesATPenergytodriveNa
&Kiontransportagainstconc.Gradient

 CellJunctions
Allowspecifictypesofcellstostay
togethertoperformspecialjobs

Layersofthesetypesofcells
Linebodycavities
Coverbodysurfaces

 3TypesofCellJunctions

1. TightJunctions

2. Desmosomes

3. GapJunctions

 TightJunctions
Sealtissuesand
preventleaks
Linkepithelialcells
together
Preventthingsfrom
movingthroughthe
intercellularspace
Restrictmigrationof
proteinsand
phospholipids

 Desmosomes
Likespotwelds!

Denseplaqueswith
fibersattached
Anchorcellstogether
fromonesidetothe
other.

Thesecellswithstand
lotsofabuse!

 GapJunctions
Celltocell
communication.

Proteinchannels
(whattype?)
connexons

Plasmodesmata

PutThemAllTogether

 Membrane Structure
The cell is highly organized with many functional units or organelles inside. Most of
these units are limited by one or more membranes. To perform the functions of an
organelle, the membrane is specialized in that it contains specific proteins and lipid
components that enable it to perform its unique roles.
In essence membranes are essential for the integrity and function of the cell.
Membrane functions:
be protective
regulate transport in and out of cell or organelle
allow selective receptivity and signal transduction by providing transmembrane
receptors that bind signaling molecules
allow cell recognition
provide anchoring sites for cytoskeletal components. This allows the cell to
maintain its shape and perhaps move to distant sites.
provide a stable site for the binding and catalysis of enzymes.
regulate the fusion of the membrane with other membranes in the cell via
specialized junctions
provide a passageway across the membrane for certain molecules
allow directed cell or organelle motility