Biological membranes

A biological membrane or biomembrane is an enclosing or separating membrane that acts as a selectively permeable barrier within living things. Biological membranes, in the form of eukaryotic cell membranes, consist of a phospholipid bilayer with embedded, integral and peripheral proteins used in communication and transportation of chemicals and ions. The bulk of lipid in a cell membrane provides a fluid matrix for proteins to rotate and laterally diffuse for physiological functioning. Proteins are adapted to high membrane fluidity environment of lipid bilayer with the presence of an annular lipid shell, consisting of lipid molecules bound tightly to surface of integral membrane proteins. The cell membranes are different from the isolating tissues formed by layers of cells, such as mucous membranes, basement membranes, and serous membranes.

The lipid bilayer consists of two layers- an outer leaflet and an inner leaflet. The components of bilayers are distributed unequally between the two surfaces to create asymmetry between the outer and inner surfaces. This asymmetric organization is important for cell functions such as cell signaling. The asymmetry of the biological membrane reflects the different functions of the two leaflets of the membrane. As seen in the fluid membrane model of the phospholipid bilayer, the outer leaflet and inner leaflet of the membrane are asymmetrical in their composition. Certain proteins and lipids rest only on one surface of the membrane and not the other.

• Both the plasma membrane and internal membranes have cytosolic and exoplasmic faces • This orientation is maintained during membrane trafficking – proteins, lipids, glycoconjugates facing the lumen of the ER and Golgi get expressed on the extracellular side of the plasma membrane. In eucaryotic cells, new phospholipids are manufactured by enzymes bound to the part of the endoplasmic reticulum membrane that faces the cytosol. These enzymes, which use free fatty acids as substrates, deposit all newly made phospholipids into the cytosolic half of the bilayer. To enable the membrane as a whole to grow evenly, half of the new phospholipid molecules then have to be transferred to the opposite monolayer. This transfer is catalyzed by enzymes called flippases. In the plasma membrane, flippases transfer specific phospholipids selectively, so that different types become concentrated in each monolayer.

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