TR3.5

Fluid Mosaic Model

Houjun Liu 2021-09-27 Mon 12:00

1 Fluid mosaic model of cell membrane

Some Phosopholipids connected as a "phosolipid bi-layer" (see KBhBIO101StructuresOfLipids structure

  • Charged head
  • Nonpolar tail

So, head aligns and tail aligns, creating the basic structure of the membrane:

Screen Shot 2020-09-09 at 3.08.10 PM.png

Figure 1: Screen Shot 2020-09-09 at 3.08.10 PM.png

This is called the "fluid mosaic" model because there is nothing holding these together.

1.1 Stuff in the membrane

Cholesterol

Helps cells communicate

Proteans

  • Makes sure the right molecules gets in/out
  • Nonpolar Oxygen + CO2 could easily get through
  • Polar and charged molecules can't get through, unless…
  • Channeled proteins let specific polar particles through

Through various KBhBIO101CellMembraines protean transports, chemicals could get in and out of the cell.