Compare and contrast the influence of different phospholipid chain lengths and degree of saturation in membrane...

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Biology

Compare and contrast the influence of different phospholipid chainlengths and degree of saturation in membrane lipids on membranefluidity.

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The phospholipid bilayer is the main fabric of themembrane The bilayers structure causes the membrane to besemipermeable The hydrophobic core blocks the diffusion ofhydrophilic ions and polar molecules Small hydrophobicmolecules and gases which can dissolve in the membranes corecross it with ease Other molecules require proteins totransport them across the membraneThe fluidity of the membrane is regulated by the typesof phospholipids and the presence of cholesterol Second thephospholipid membrane is selectively permeableThe cell membrane is dynamic in that the individualphospholipids and proteins that constitute the membrane are movingrapidly within the membrane Thermal energy causes lipids andproteins to diffuse within membranes Scientists have measured therate at which lipids and proteins diffuse and one estimate is thata lipid can circumnavigate a bacterial membrane in one secondThe diffusive nature of membranes has important biological andmedical consequences Without any other system acting on amembrane the lipids and proteins in the membrane will be randomlydistributed throughout that membrane As we will see cells expenda considerable amount of energy to create domains with in membranesthat contain a specific set of proteins and sometimes lipids Thesedomains play important roles in cell adhesion andcommunicationphospholipids have a polar head group and two hydrophobichydrocarbon tails The tails are usually fatty acids andthey can differ in length they normally contain between 14 and 24carbon atoms One tail usually has one or more cisdoublebonds ie it is See Answer

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