Structural Hierarchy
A function of how filled the outer shell is, and which shell is serving as the outermost shell
Reactivity
Defines the cell boundary, serves as a semi-permeable barrier, regulates transport, site for important chemical reactions, sends and receives chemical messages. Has a fluid structure; not rigid
The cell membrane
Plays a role in transport and chemical signaling, found in areas where the membrane is less fluid
Lipid raft
Can be uniport, symport or anti port, movement of large and or charged solute down their concentration gradient, requires use of transport protein and provides a hydrophilic channel
Facilitated diffusion
Bond where one atom transfers an atom to the other atom, both now have full outer shells.
Ionic Bonds
Make uo most of the membrane structure, form the lipid bilayer
Phospholipids
Achieved by either changing carbon chain length or changing the amount of unsaturation (within limits)
Homeoviscous Adaptation
active transport
Same formula but different arrangement of atoms
Structural isomers
Lipids with a sugar group or chain attached, important in cell signaling
Proteins, Covalently bonded to membrane, enzymes or chemical messengers
Lipid-anchored Proteins
Coupled directly to ATP hydrolysis, which releases 7.5 kcal/mole of energy
Direct Coupling
The same formula and arrangement of atoms, the spatial orientation of groups varied around the asymmetric carbon.
Geometric Isomers
Important in membrane integrity
Sterols
Cells utilize only four basic families of carbon containing compounds.
Sugars, Fatty acids, Amino acids, and Nucleotides
Proportion of saturated to unsaturated fatty acid chains directly influences membrane melting point.
More saturation, higher Tm. Higher Tm = longer chains
More unsaturation, lower Tm. Lower Tm = shorter chains