Membrane Structure & Function

 Composed of phospholipids and proteins

Cellular Activity  Membranes are commonly described as a fluid mosaic
 This means the surface appears mosaic because of the
proteins embedded in the phospholipids and fluid
because proteins can drift about in the phospholipids

Dr. Gregory Karapetian

BIO 233
Lecture 5 Phospholipid
bilayer
Hydrophilic regions
of protein

Hydrophobic regions of protein

Membrane Structure & Function Membrane Structure & Function

CHO of glycoprotein
 Membranes contain  Some glycoproteins in the membrane serve as
integrins, giving the
membrane a stronger Glycoprotein identification tags that are specifically recognized
framework by membrane proteins of other cells
 Integrins attach to the
extracellular matrix on  Ex: cell-cell recognition enables cells of the immune
Integrin
the outside of the cell system to recognize and reject foreign cells, such as
as well as span the Integrin
membrane to attach to infectious bacteria
the cytoskeleton Cholesterol
Phospholipid (hydrophobic tail)  Carbohydrates that are part of the extracellular matrix
Microfilament
are significantly involved in cell-cell recognition

Membrane Structure & Function Signal Transduction & Transport

Messenger molecule
 Membrane proteins function as:
 Enzymes, signal transduction, and transport Receptor (of Enzyme)

 Because membranes allow some substances to

cross more easily than others, they exhibit
selectively permeability
 Nonpolar molecules (CO2 and O2) cross easily

 Polar molecules (glucose and other sugars) do not Activated

molecule
cross easily

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Passive Transport Passive Transport
 Diffusion is a process in which particles spread Molecules (1 type) Membrane Equilibrium
out evenly in an available space
 Particles move from [ high ]  [ low ]
 They diffuse down their concentration gradient
 Eventually, particles reach equilibrium where their
concentration is the same throughout
Molecules (2 types) Equilibrium
 Diffusion across a cell membrane does not require
energy, so it is called passive transport
 The concentration gradient itself represents potential
energy for diffusion

Lower Higher Equal

concentration concentration concentration
of solute of solute of solute

Osmosis
H2O
Solute
 It is crucial for cells that water moves across their molecule
Selectively
membrane permeable
membrane
 H2O moves across membranes in response to solute [ ] Water
molecule
in and out of the cell by a process called osmosis

 Osmosis is the diffusion of water across a membrane

down its concentration gradient until the concentration
of solute is equal on both sides of the membrane Solute molecule with
cluster of water molecules

Net flow of water

Water balance between cells and their

surroundings is crucial to organisms Tonicity
Isotonic solution Hypotonic solution Hypertonic solution
 Tonicity is a term that describes the ability of a
solution to cause a cell to gain or lose water
 Tonicity is dependent on the concentration of a
RBC
nonpenetrating solute on both sides of the membrane
 Isotonic indicates that the concentration of a solute
Normal Lysed Shriveled
is the same on both sides
Plasma
 Hypertonic indicates that the concentration of solute Plant Solution that has no  Solution that loses membrane
Solution that gains
is higher outside the cell cell net osmotic movement H2O by osmosis H2O by osmosis
of H2O in or out of cell  Has less solutes  Has more solutes
 Hypotonic indicates a higher concentration of solute  Has equal number of  A cell in this  A cell in this
inside the cell solutes solution will gain solution will lose
 A cell in this H2O H2O
solution will remain
Flaccid Turgid Shriveled
the same size (plasmolyzed)

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Active Transport Active transport of a solute across a membrane

 Cells have a mechanism for moving a solute Transport

protein
against its concentration gradient
 It requires the expenditure of energy in the form of ATP

 The mechanism alters the shape of the membrane Protein Phosphate

Solute changes shape detaches
protein through phosphorylation using ATP
1 Solute binding 2 ATP Hydrolysis 3 Transport 4 Protein reversion

Exocytosis & Endocytosis Exocytosis & Endocytosis

 A cell uses two mechanisms for moving large  Three kinds of endocytosis
molecules across membranes  Phagocytosis is engulfment of a particle by wrapping
 Exocytosis – used to export bulky molecules, such as cell membrane around it, forming a vacuole
proteins or polysaccharides
 Endocytosis – used to import substances useful to the  Pinocytosis is the same thing except that fluids are
cell taken into small vesicles

 In both cases, material to be transported is  Receptor-mediated endocytosis is where receptors in

packaged within a vesicle that fuses with the a receptor-coated pit interact with a specific protein,
membrane initiating formation of a vesicle

Phagocytosis Pinocytosis
EXTRACELLULAR CYTOPLASM Food
FLUID being
Pseudopodium ingested Plasma
membrane

“Food” or
other particle
Vesicle
Food
vacuole

Plasma membrane

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 Receptor-mediated Endocytosis Cells transform energy
Plasma membrane  Cells are small units, housing 1000’s of chem rxns
Coat protein
Receptor Coated  These rxns are necessary for cell maintenance,
vesicle manufacturing of cellular parts, and replication

Coated
pit  Energy – the capacity to do work and cause change
 Work is accomplished when an object is moved against an
Coated
pit
opposing force, such as friction
Specific
molecule  There are two kinds of energy:
Material bound  Potential energy is energy that an object possesses as a result of
to receptor proteins its location
 Kinetic energy is the energy of motion

Cells transform energy Two laws govern energy transformations

 Potential energy can be thought of as water  It is important to understand two laws that govern
behind a dam
 Chemical energy is potential energy because of its energy transformations in organisms
energy available for release in a chemical reaction
 The first law of thermodynamics – energy in the
universe is constant
 Kinetic energy performs work by transferring
motion to other matter  The second law of thermodynamics – energy
 Ex: water moving through a turbine generates electricity conversions increase the disorder of the universe
 Entropy is the measure of disorder, or randomness

Fuel Energy conversion Waste products

Heat
energy
Chemical reactions release or store energy
Gasoline Carbon dioxide

Combustion  An exergonic reaction is a chemical reaction that

Kinetic energy
of movement
releases energy
Oxygen Water

Energy conversion in a car  An endergonic reaction requires an input of energy and

Heat yields products rich in potential energy

 The human body produces thousands of endergonic and

Cellular respiration
Glucose Carbon dioxide
exergonic chemical reactions
 All of these combined is called metabolism
Oxygen Water
Energy for cellular work
 A metabolic pathway is a series of chemical reactions that either
Energy conversion in a cell break down a complex molecule or build up a complex molecule

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 ATP shuttles chemical energy and drives
Chemical reactions release or store energy cellular work
 A cell does three main types of cellular work  Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is the energy
 Chemical work
currency of cells
 driving endergonic reactions  ATP is the immediate source of energy that powers
most forms of cellular work
 Transport work
 pumping substances across membranes  ATP is composed of adenine (a nitrogenous base),
ribose (a five-carbon sugar), and three phosphate
 Mechanical work
groups
 beating of cilia
 To accomplish work, a cell must manage its
energy resources, and it does so by energy  Hydrolysis of ATP releases energy by
coupling – the use of exergonic processes to transferring its third phosphate from ATP to
drive an endergonic one some other molecule
 The transfer is called phosphorylation

Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP)

Phosphate
group Chemical work Mechanical work Transport work
Solute

Adenine Motor
protein
Ribose Membrane
Reactants protein

Hydrolysis

Product

Molecule formed Protein moved Solute transported

Adenosine Diphosphate (ADP)

ATP shuttles chemical energy and drives Enzymes “speed up” the cell’s chemical
cellular work reactions by lowering energy barriers

 ATP is a renewable source of energy for the cell  Although there is a lot of potential energy in
 When energy is released in an exergonic reaction, such
as breakdown of glucose, the energy is used in an biological molecules, such as carbohydrates
endergonic reaction to generate ATP
and others, it is not released spontaneously
 Energy must be available to break bonds and form
Energy from Energy for
new ones
Exergonic rxns Endergonic rxns
 This energy is called energy of activation (EA)

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Enzymes “speed up” the cell’s chemical
reactions by lowering energy barriers
Reaction
without
 The cell uses catalysis to drive biological reactions enzyme
EA without
enzyme
 Catalysis is accomplished by enzymes, which are EA with
enzyme
proteins that function as biological catalysts Reactants
Net
 Enzymes “speed up” the rate of the reaction by lowering Reaction with change
enzyme in energy
the EA , and they are not used up in the process (the same)
 Each enzyme has a particular target molecule called the
Products
substrate Progress of the reaction

1 Enzyme available
A specific enzyme catalyzes each cellular with empty active
site
reaction Active site
Substrate
(sucrose)
 Enzymes have unique three-dimensional shapes 2 Substrate binds
to enzyme with
 The shape is critical to their role as biological catalysts induced fit
Enzyme
 As a result of its shape, the enzyme has an active site Glucose (sucrase)
where the enzyme interacts with the enzyme’s substrate
Fructose
 Consequently, the substrate’s chemistry is altered to
form the product of the enzyme reaction
4 Products are
released 3 Substrate is
converted to
products

A specific enzyme catalyzes each cellular Enzyme inhibitors block enzyme action and
reaction can regulate enzyme activity in a cell
 Inhibitors: chemicals that inhibit enzyme activity
 For optimum activity, enzymes require certain
 One group inhibits because they compete for the
environmental conditions enzyme’s active site, thus blocking substrates from
entering the active site
 Temperature is very important, and optimally, human  Called: competitive inhibitors
enzymes function best at 37ºC
 High temperature will denature human enzymes  Other inhibitors do not act directly with the active
site
 Enzymes also require a pH around neutrality for best
 These bind elsewhere and change the shape of the
results enzyme so the substrate will no longer fit the active site
 Called: noncompetitive inhibitors

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 Substrate Enzyme inhibitors block enzyme action and
Active site can regulate enzyme activity in a cell
Enzyme
 Enzyme inhibitors are important in regulating cell
metabolism
Normal binding of substrate
 Often the product of a metabolic pathway can serve as
Competitive Noncompetitive
inhibitor inhibitor an inhibitor of one enzyme in the pathway, a
mechanism called feedback inhibition

 The more product formed, the greater the inhibition, and

in this way, regulation of the pathway is accomplished

Enzyme inhibition

Requires no energy Requires energy

Passive transport Active transport
Diffusion Facilitated Osmosis Higher solute
diffusion Higher water concentration
Higher solute concentration concentration

Solute

Water
Lower solute Lower water Lower solute
concentration concentration concentration