Plasma Membrane

Cell Organelles: Plasma Membranes

Plasma membranes are often seen as the boundary between a cell and its environment. It regulates exactly what can go in and what could flow out of the cell. The Cell membrane is a prime example of homeostasis as it not only protects the cell and it's form, but regulates what enters and exits to maintain the comfortable density of a cell. It importantly serves as a protecter of the cell, think of it as a soldier guarding a castle, the soldier properly inspects every guest/visiter that enters or exits to make sure that the people and or things are safe to enter or go.

Structure: The plasma membranes are made up of phospholipids bilayers, these phospholipids are positioned parallel from one another. Phospholipids are simply made up of a macromolecule, the lipid or also known as "fatty acids", in which are attached to a phosphate group. These phospholipids (most commonly) make a circular formation, the tails of the phospholipids naturally hate water, given that their lipids, and when they form a circle together the heads align side by side whilst the two fatty acid tails interlock with the other aligned layer of phospholipids creating a sort of barrier.

This phospholipid bilayer is a semi-permeable structure, meaning it only lets certain molecules to diffuse through the cell.

Plasma Membranes also have three proteins that help give extra support to its function.
• Transport Proteins : These help the cell transport molecules into/out-of the cell membrane through diffusion.
• Glycoprotein : This protein helps transport some molecules but also is a factor in cell communications.
• Receptor Proteins : This protein helps the communication of a cell with its outside environment, yes that sounds quite odd and you may be wondering "how can cells communicate?" well, these proteins use hormones, as well as neurotransmitters and other molecules to signal things/organisms from its outside environment to either stay away or that they're okay to enter.

Some important molecules are too big to enter the cell membrane due to the little space the phospholipids provide to pass through. This is the roll of the channel protein, it properly regulates what can exit/enter the cell, and is able to transport bigger molecules.

                What I've learned from this cell organelle, is that the cell membranes of prokaryotic cells and eukaryotic cells differ from one another, the prokaryotic plasma membrane is composed of phospholipids as explained above, and that they also have multiple plasma membranes, and the eukaryotic plasma membrane is less permeable and has bigger focus on the stabilization of the membrane.



Sources: http://biology.tutorvista.com/animal-and-plant-cells/plasma-membrane.html
http://aisdvs.aldine.k12.tx.us/pluginfile.php/283321/mod_book/chapter/38503/cell%20membrane%20structure.jpg

MLA FORMAT

"Cite A Website - Cite This For Me". Aisdvs.aldine.k12.tx.us. N.p., 2017. Web. 20 May 2017.

"Plasma Membrane | Structure, Function Of Plasma Membrane | Biology@Tutorvista.Com". Biology.tutorvista.com. N.p., 2017. Web. 20 May 2017.