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| surrounds all living cells, and is the cell's most important organelle. It controls how substances can move in and out of the cell and is responsible for many other properties of the cell as well. The membranes that surround the nucleus and other organelles are almost identical to the cell membrane. Membranes are composed of phospholipids, proteins and carbohydrates arranged in a fluid mosaic structure, as shown in this diagram |
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| form a thin, flexible sheet, while the proteins "float" in the phospholipid sheet like icebergs, and the carbohydrates extend out from the proteins.are arranged in a bilayer, with their polar, hydrophilic phosphate heads facing outwards, and their non-polar, hydrophobic fatty acid tails facing each other in the middle of the bilayer. This hydrophobic layer acts as a barrier to all but the smallest molecules, effectively isolating the two sides of the membrane. Different kinds of membranes can contain phospholipids with different fatty acids, affecting the strength and flexibility of the membrane, and animal cell membranes also contain cholesterol linking the fatty acids together and so stabilising and strengthening the membrane. |
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| usually span from one side of the phospholipid bilayer to the other (integral proteins), but can also sit on one of the surfaces (peripheral proteins). They can slide around the membrane very quickly and collide with each other, but can never flip from one side to the other. The proteins have hydrophilic amino acids in contact with the water on the outside of membranes, and hydrophobic amino acids in contact with the fatty chains inside the membrane. Proteins comprise about 50% of the mass of membranes, and are responsible for most of the membrane's properties. |
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| Found on the outer surface of all eukaryotic cell membranes, and attached to the membrane proteins or sometimes to the phospholipids. Proteins with carbohydrates attached are called glycoproteins, while phospholipids with carbohydrates attached are called glycolipids. The carbohydrates are short polysaccharides composed of a variety of different monosaccharides, and form a cell coat or glycocalyx outside the cell membrane. The glycocalyx is involved in protection and cell recognition, and antigens such as the ABO antigens on blood cells are usually cell-surface glycoproteins. |
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