BiologyCode 9700
Fluid mosaic membranes
What this topic asks you to be able to do
- describe the fluid mosaic model, showing how membrane structure arises from hydrophobic and hydrophilic interactions that form the phospholipid bilayer, and how proteins are positioned within it
- describe where glycoproteins, glycolipids and cholesterol are found and how they are arranged in cell surface membranes
- describe the roles that cholesterol, phospholipids, proteins, glycoproteins and glycolipids play in cell surface membranes, in terms of fluidity, stability and permeability, transport (through channel proteins and carrier proteins), cell recognition (through cell surface antigens – see 11.1.2) and cell signalling (through cell surface receptors)
- outline the main steps of cell signalling that lead to specific responses: cells secrete specific chemicals (ligands), the ligands are transported to target cells, and the ligands bind to cell surface receptors on those target cells