Membrane Structure Tutorials

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Membrane Structure Tutorials

1. Go to http://telstar.ote.cmu.edu/biology/MembranePage/index2.htmland read the tutorial on the many types of molecules that come together to make a cell membrane.  Assignment:

Take notes as you carefully read the web page and watch the animations.  This will be in place of a lecture on this topic so make sure you read all sections and watch all the animations provided until you understand the material.

Notes   - the hydrophilic aqueous cytoplasm and the hydrophobic lipid membranes are common in a cell.  Three members of the lipid family of molecules will be discussed in this course: fats (triacylglcerol),phospholipids, and steroids.Lipid molecules are slightly soluble to insoluble in water. Lipids are hydrophobic because the molecules consist of long, 16-18 carbon, hydrocarbon backbones with only a small amount of oxygen containing groups. Lipids serve many functions in organisms. They are the major components of waxes, pigment, steroid hormones, and cell membranes. Fats, steroids, and phospholipids are very important to the functioning of membranes in cells and will be the focus of this tutorial.

: 2. Go to http://www.bio.davidson.edu/people/macampbell/111/memb-swf/membranes.swf This site is a tutorial on the molecules that make up cell membranes and the way that they are arranged in cell membranes. Assignment:      Read through the tutorial on membrane structure to see how the variety of molecules fit together in the fluid mosaic model.     As quizzes appear during this tutorial, type in the questions they ask and the correct answer that you chose.

Quiz Questions and Answers:

-Lipids are the primary determinants of membranne structure while proteins carry out membrane function.

Liplids and proteins

-List the molecular componets common to all phosphoglycercles, phosphate, glycerol, and two fatty acids.

Phosphate, glycerol, and two fatty acids 

-Name the three classes of membrane:

 lipids glycolpids, cholestrol,phospholipids.

-What type of bonding dominates interaction between lipids and limits fluidity 

Van der waals forces

-How is asymmetry preserved?

 Lipid heads are hydrophilic, as are exposed portions of proteins 

-How could you identify a transmembrance helix just by examining the amino acid sequence of a protein?

Transmembrane helices can often be identified from a proteins sequence as characteristic streches of two dozen or so hydrophobic amino acids