Membrane Structure

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 Membrane Structure
Cell membranes
- essential for all life processes
- enclose the cell
- define boundaries
- maintain the difference between the extracellular space and the cytoplasm
- enable biochemical reactions

-~5nm thick layer of lipid and

protein – held together by non-
covalent interactions
-Dynamic, fluid structure
-Lipid: fluid structure of the
membrane and impermeable to
hydrophilic molecules

-Proteins: functional unit, mediate

water-soluble molecule transfer,
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communication, adhesion
 The Lipid Bilayer
• Glycerophospholipids, Sphingolipids, and Sterols Are the Major
Lipids in Cell Membranes
– Lipids: %50 of the mass
– All lipids-amphiphilic- one end is
hydrophilic/polar and the other is
hydrophobic/nonpolar
– Phospholipids- most abundant lipids on the
membrane
• Polar head group with a phosphate group and
two hydrocarbon tails (fatty acids)
• Fatty acid tail- one saturated arm, one
unsaturated with > 1 cis-double bond
• length and saturation of tails affect the
packaging of phospholipids and fluidity of the
membrane

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 The Lipid Bilayer
• Glycerophospholipids, Sphingolipids, and Sterols Are the Major
Lipids in Cell Membranes
– Glycerophospholipids - 3-C
glycerol backbone- main
phospholipids in most animal
cell membranes
• Two are occupied by fatty acid
tails through ester bonds
• 3rd carbon is linked to a
phosphate group that attaches to
different head groups
– Different head groups and tail
groups different
phosphoglycerides

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 The Lipid Bilayer
• Glycerophospholipids, Sphingolipids, and
Sterols Are the Major Lipids in Cell Membranes
– Sphingolipids- build from
sphingosine- fatty acid tail
attached to amino and
phosphocholine attached to
the terminal OH group
– sphingosine- long fatty acid
chain with a NH2 and 2 OH

• Glycolipids and sterols

– Glycolipids- similar to sphingolipids with sugar
instead of phosphate-linked group

Sterols
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 The Lipid Bilayer
• Glycerophospholipids, Sphingolipids, and
Sterols Are the Major Lipids in Cell Membranes
– Sphingolipids- build from
sphingosine- fatty acid tail
attached to amino and
phosphocholine attached to
the terminal OH group
– sphingosine- long fatty acid
chain with a NH2 and 2 OH

• Phospholipids: > %50 of all lipids

• Rest: Glycolipids and sterols
– Glycolidips- similar to sphingolipids with sugar
instead of phosphate-linked group
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 The Lipid Bilayer
Glycerophospholipids, Sphingolipids, and Sterols Are the Major
Lipids in Cell Membranes
• Rest: Glycolipids and sterols
– Sterols- single polar OH group and
short nonpolar hydrocarbon tail
– Lots of sterols in eukaryotes
– Cholesterol- major sterol in
animals

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 Phospholipids Spontaneously Form Bilayers
• Amphiphilic properties of phospholipids enable them to form aggregates to bury their
hydrophobic tails in the interior side and hydrophilic heads toward water self-healing
property in injuries

Interaction of hydrophilic and hydrophobic

molecules with water Packing arrangements of amphiphilic
molecules in an aqueous environment

The spontaneous closure of a

phospholipid bilayer to form a
sealed compartment

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 The Lipid Bilayer Is a Two-dimensional Fluid
• Fluid
• Free diffusion within a monolayer
• Rare flip-flops between monolayers
except cholesterol
• Rapid rotations around long axis
• Flexion
Liposomes
• Phospholipids are produced in cytosolic
leaflet of ER membrane
• After transfer to the plasma membrane,
they are redistributed with the help of
proteins

The mobility of phospholipid molecules in an

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 The Fluidity of a Lipid Bilayer Depends on Its
Composition
• Regulation of membrane fluidity is crucial for
proper functioning of membranes
• The composition and temperature determines the
membrane fluidity
– Each phospholipid turns into gel state from a
liquid state at certain temperature - a transition
phase
– Short phospholipids or unsaturated ones have
lower transition temperature
– Short phospholipids- decreases the interaction
tendency between lipids of the same layer and the
opposite layer
– Cis- bonds produce kinks- prevent tight
packaging at low temperatures
– Organisms exposing to various environmental
conditions constantly changes the composition of
their membrane to maintain fluidity
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 The Fluidity of a Lipid Bilayer Depends on Its
Composition
• Sterols, cholesterol
– Fits between two phospholipid
molecules- interaction between the
heads groups  immobilization
– influence the permeability barrier of
membranes
– decrease permeability to water soluble
molecules
– tighten packaging of lipids
– prevent crystallization of hydrocarbon
chains

500-2000 different lipid

species present in the
membrane

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Despite Their Fluidity, Lipid Bilayers Can Form
Domains of Different Compositions
• Different lipids can organize into certain
domains
• Lipid rafts
– Enriched in cholesterol and sphingolipids
– Concentration of special proteins
Uniform distribution: Transient patches:
1:1 mixture of 1:1:1 mixture of
phosphatidyl-choline: phosphatidyl-choline:
sphingomyelin sphingomyelin:
cholosterol

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 Lipid Droplets Are Surrounded by a
Phospholipid Monolayer
• Cells store excess lipids in lipid droplets surrounded by a
phospholipid monolayer
• Adipocytes- giant lipid droplet
• Other cell- small droplets
• Single layered

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 The Asymmetry of the Lipid Bilayer Is
Functionally Important
• Different lipid content in each
Phospholipids with choline
monolayer (phosphatidylcholine, sphingosine)
glycolipids
• Conversion of extracellular
signals into the cells
 Many proteins bind to specific
lipid head group on cytosolic side
 Modified head groups provide
binding sites for proteins during
Phospholipids with amino group-
signaling events
phosphatidyl serine
 Phospholipases activated by
phosphatidylethanolamine
external signal can cleave specific
phospholipids to generate signaling Lipid distribution in membranes
fragments of red blood cells- unequal
charge distribution
• Tagging of apoptotic cells for
phagocytosis by macrophages
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 Glycolipids Are Found on the Surface of All
Eukaryotic Plasma Membranes
• Glycolipids- sugar containing lipids
– Made from sphingosine in animal cells
– Asymmetrically distributed on the
membrane- positioned away from the
cytosol
– Addition of sugar happens in the Golgi
lumen
– Play role in interaction with the external
environment
– Protect cells against harsh conditions Gangliosides- the most
– Charged ones alters the electrical field across complex glycolipids, sialic
the membrane and the concentration of ions acids (NANA) is negatively
– Cell recognition- cell-cell adhesion through charged
lectin molecules (carbohydrate binding
proteins)
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– Recognition site by disease causing bacteria 15