7.1 The Plasma Membrane Components and Structure

Learning Objectives

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

  • Understand the fluid mosaic model of membranes
  • Describe the functions of phospholipids, proteins, and carbohydrates in membranes
  • State the role of the plasma membrane
  • Discuss membrane fluidity

A cell’s plasma membrane, also called the cell membrane, defines the boundary of the cell and determines the nature of its contact with the environment. Cells exclude some substances, take in others, and excrete still others, all in controlled quantities. Plasma membranes enclose the borders of cells, but rather than being a static bag, they are dynamic and constantly in flux. The plasma membrane must be sufficiently flexible to allow certain cells, such as red blood cells and white blood cells, to change shape as they pass through narrow capillaries. These are the more obvious functions of a plasma membrane. In addition, the surface of the plasma membrane carries markers that allow cells to recognize one another, which is vital as tissues and organs form during early development, and which later plays a role in the “self” versus “non-self” distinction of the immune response.

The plasma membrane also carries receptors, which are attachment sites for specific substances that interact with the cell. Each receptor is structured to bind with a specific substance. For example, surface receptors of the membrane create changes in the interior, such as changes in enzymes of metabolic pathways. These metabolic pathways might be vital for providing the cell with energy, making specific substances for the cell, or breaking down cellular waste or toxins for disposal. Receptors on the plasma membrane’s exterior surface interact with hormones or neurotransmitters, and allow their messages to be transmitted into the cell. Some recognition sites are used by viruses as attachment points. Although they are highly specific, pathogens like viruses may evolve to exploit receptors to gain entry to a cell by mimicking the specific substance that the receptor is meant to bind. This specificity helps to explain why human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or any of the five types of hepatitis viruses invade only specific cells.

Fluid Mosaic Model of the Plasma Membrane

Scientists identified the plasma membrane in the 1890s, and its chemical components in 1915. The principal components they identified were lipids and proteins. In 1935, Hugh Davson and James Danielli proposed the plasma membrane’s structure. This was the first model that others in the scientific community widely accepted. It was based on the plasma membrane’s “railroad track” appearance in early electron micrographs. Davson and Danielli theorized that the plasma membrane’s structure resembles a sandwich. They made the analogy of proteins to bread, and lipids to the filling. In the 1950s, advances in microscopy, notably transmission electron microscopy, allowed researchers to see that the plasma membrane’s core consisted of a double, rather than a single, layer.

In 1972, S. J. Singer and Garth L. Nicolson proposed a new model of the plasma membrane that, compared to earlier understanding, better explained both microscopic observations and the function of the plasma membrane. This was called the fluid mosaic model (Figure 7.1). The model has evolved somewhat over time, but still best accounts for the structure and functions of the plasma membrane as we now understand them. The fluid mosaic model describes the structure of the plasma membrane as a mosaic of components—including phospholipids, cholesterol, proteins, and carbohydrates—in which the components are able to flow and change position, while maintaining the basic integrity of the membrane. Both phospholipid molecules and embedded proteins are able to diffuse rapidly and laterally in the membrane. The fluidity of the plasma membrane is necessary for the activities of certain enzymes and transport molecules within the membrane. Plasma membranes range from 5–10 nm thick. As a comparison, human red blood cells, visible via light microscopy, are approximately 8 µm thick, or approximately 1,000 times thicker than a plasma membrane.

 
the plasma membrane is composed of a phospholipid bilayer. in the bilayer, the two long hydrophobic tails of phospholipids face toward the center, and the hydrophilic head group faces the exterior. Integral membrane proteins and protein channels span the entire bilayer. Protein channels have a pore in the middle. Peripheral membrane proteins sit on the surface of the phospholipids and are associated with the head groups. On the exterior side of the membrane, carbohydrates are attached to certain proteins and lipids. Filaments of the cytoskeleton line the interior of the membrane.
Figure 7.1 The fluid mosaic model of the plasma membrane structure describes the plasma membrane as a fluid combination of phospholipids, cholesterol, proteins, and carbohydrates. This illustration shows that the inside and outside of a plasma membrane are different, with the surfaces covered in the spherical heads, and the interior filled with the strandlike tails. The plasma membrane fluid mosaic model describes the plasma membrane as a fluid combination of phospholipids, cholesterol, and proteins. Carbohydrates attached to lipids (glycolipids) and to proteins (glycoproteins) extend from the membrane’s outward-facing surface (Credit: Rao, A., Ryan, K., Fletcher, S., Hawkins, A. and Tag, A. Department of Biology, Texas A&M University)
The main fabric of the plasma membrane is composed of two layers of phospholipid molecules, and the polar ends of these molecules (which look like balls in an artist’s rendition of the model) are in contact with aqueous fluid both inside and outside the cell. Thus, both surfaces of the plasma membrane are hydrophilic. In contrast, the interior of the membrane, between its two surfaces, is a hydrophobic or nonpolar region because of the fatty acid tails. This region has no attraction for water or other polar molecules. The plasma membrane is embedded with proteins, carbohydrates, glycolipids, and glycoproteins, and, in animal cells, cholesterol. The protein, lipid, and carbohydrate proportions in the plasma membrane vary with cell type, but for a typical human cell, protein accounts for about 50 percent of the composition by mass, lipids (of all types) account for about 40 percent, and carbohydrates comprise the remaining 10 percent. However, protein and lipid concentration varies with different cell membranes. For example, myelin, an outgrowth of specialized cells’ membrane that insulates the peripheral nerves’ axons, contains only 18 percent protein and 76 percent lipid. The mitochondrial inner membrane contains 76 percent protein and only 24 percent lipid. The plasma membrane of human red blood cells is 30 percent lipid.The lipids and proteins of the plasma membrane exist as separate but loosely attached molecules. These resemble the separate, multicolored tiles of a mosaic picture, and they float, moving somewhat with respect to one another. The membrane is not like a balloon, however, that can expand and contract; rather, it is fairly rigid and can burst if penetrated or if a cell takes in too much water. However, because of its mosaic nature, a very fine needle can easily penetrate a plasma membrane without causing it to burst, and the membrane will flow and self-seal when one extracts the needle.The nature of the phospholipids themselves can contribute to the fluid character of the membrane. In their saturated form, the fatty acids in phospholipid tails are saturated with bound hydrogen atoms. There are no double bonds between adjacent carbon atoms. This results in tails that are relatively straight. In contrast, unsaturated fatty acids do not contain a maximal number of hydrogen atoms, but they do contain some double bonds between adjacent carbon atoms. A double bond results in a bend in the carbon string of approximately 30 degrees. Thus, if decreasing temperatures compress saturated fatty acids with their straight tails, they press in on each other, making a dense and fairly rigid membrane. If unsaturated fatty acids are compressed, the “kinks” in their tails elbow adjacent phospholipid molecules away, maintaining some space between the phospholipid molecules. This “elbow room” helps to maintain fluidity in the membrane at temperatures at which membranes with saturated fatty acid tails in their phospholipids would “freeze” or solidify. The membrane’s relative fluidity is particularly important in a cold environment. A cold environment usually compresses membranes comprised largely of saturated fatty acids, making them less fluid and more susceptible to rupturing. Many organisms (fish are one example) are capable of adapting to cold environments by changing the proportion of unsaturated fatty acids in their membranes in response to lower temperature.Proteins make up the second major chemical component of plasma membranes. Integral proteins (Figure 7.2) are embedded in the plasma membrane and may span all or part of the membrane. Integral proteins may serve as channels or pumps to move materials into or out of the cell. Single-pass integral membrane proteins usually have a hydrophobic transmembrane segment that consists of 20–25 amino acids. Some span only part of the membrane—associating with a single layer—while others stretch from one side to the other, and are exposed on either side. Up to 12 single protein segments comprise some complex proteins, which are extensively folded and embedded in the membrane. This protein type has a hydrophilic region or regions, and one or several mildly hydrophobic regions. This arrangement of protein regions orients the protein alongside the phospholipids, with the protein’s hydrophobic region adjacent to the phospholipids’ tails and the protein’s hydrophilic region or regions protruding from the membrane and in contact with the cytosol or extracellular fluid.

 

Figure 7.2 Integral membrane proteins may have one or more alpha-helices that span the membrane (examples 1 and 2), or they may have beta-sheets that span the membrane (example 3). (Credit: “Foobar”/Wikimedia Commons)

Peripheral proteins are on the membranes’ exterior and interior surfaces, attached either to integral proteins or to phospholipids. Peripheral proteins, along with integral proteins, may serve as enzymes, as structural attachments for the cytoskeleton’s fibres, or as part of the cell’s recognition sites. Scientists sometimes refer to these as “cell-specific” proteins. The body recognizes its own proteins and attacks foreign proteins associated with invasive pathogens.

Carbohydrates are the third major component of plasma membranes. These carbohydrate chains may consist of 2–60 monosaccharide units and may be either straight or branched. They are always found on the exterior surface of cells and are bound either to proteins (forming glycoproteins) or to lipids (forming glycolipids).We collectively refer to these carbohydrates on the cell’s exterior surface—the carbohydrate components of both glycoproteins and glycolipids—as the glycocalyx (meaning “sugar coating”). The glycocalyx is highly hydrophilic and attracts large amounts of water to the cell’s surface. These carbohydrate complexes help the cell bind required substances in the extracellular fluid. This adds considerably to plasma membrane’s selective nature. Along with peripheral proteins, carbohydrates form specialized sites on the cell surface that allow cells to recognize each other. This recognition function is very important to cells, as it allows the immune system to differentiate between body cells (“self”) and foreign cells or tissues (“non-self”). Similar glycoprotein and glycolipid types are on the surfaces of viruses and may change frequently, preventing immune cells from recognizing and attacking them.

Animals have an additional membrane constituent that assists in maintaining fluidity. Cholesterol, which lies alongside the phospholipids in the membrane, tends to dampen temperature effects on the membrane. Thus, this lipid functions as a buffer, preventing lower temperatures from inhibiting fluidity and preventing increased temperatures from increasing fluidity too much. Thus, cholesterol extends, in both directions, the temperature range in which the membrane is appropriately fluid and consequently functional. The amount of cholesterol in animal plasma membranes regulates the fluidity of the membrane and changes based on the temperature of the cell’s environment. In other words, cholesterol acts as antifreeze in the cell membrane and is more abundant in animals that live in cold climates. Cholesterol also serves other functions, such as organizing clusters of transmembrane proteins into lipid rafts.

The plasma membranes of cells that specialize in absorption are folded into fingerlike projections called microvilli (singular: microvillus, Figure 7.3). This folding increases the surface area of the plasma membrane. Such cells are typically found lining the small intestine, the organ that absorbs nutrients from digested food. This is an excellent example of form matching the function of a structure.

Figure 7.3 Microvilli, as they appear on cells lining the small intestine, increase the surface area available for absorption. These microvilli are only on the area of the plasma membrane that faces the cavity from which substances will be absorbed. (Credit: micrograph, modification of work by Louisa Howard)

People with celiac disease have an immune response to gluten, which is a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye. The immune response damages microvilli, and thus, afflicted individuals cannot absorb nutrients. This leads to malnutrition, cramping, and diarrhea. Patients suffering from celiac disease must follow a gluten-free diet.

EVOLUTION IN ACTION

How Viruses Infect Specific Organs

Specific glycoprotein molecules exposed on the surface of the cell membranes of host cells are exploited by many viruses to infect specific organs. For example, HIV is able to penetrate the plasma membranes of specific kinds of white blood cells called T-helper cells and monocytes, as well as some cells of the central nervous system. The hepatitis virus attacks only liver cells.

These viruses are able to invade these cells, because the cells have binding sites on their surfaces that the viruses have exploited with equally specific glycoproteins in their coats (Figure 7.4). The cell is tricked by the mimicry of the virus coat molecules, and the virus is able to enter the cell. Other recognition sites on the virus’s surface interact with the human immune system, prompting the body to produce antibodies. Antibodies are made in response to the antigens (or proteins associated with invasive pathogens). These same sites serve as places for antibodies to attach, and either destroy or inhibit the activity of the virus. Unfortunately, these sites on HIV are encoded by genes that change quickly, making the production of an effective vaccine against the virus very difficult. The virus population within an infected individual quickly evolves through mutation into different populations, or variants, distinguished by differences in these recognition sites. This rapid change of viral surface markers decreases the effectiveness of the person’s immune system in attacking the virus, because the antibodies will not recognize the new variations of the surface patterns.

This illustration shows the plasma membrane of a T cell. CD4 receptors extend from the membrane into the extracellular space. The HIV virus recognizes part of the CD4 receptor and attaches to it.
Figure 7.4 HIV docks at and binds to the CD4 receptor, a glycoprotein on the surface of T cells, before entering, or infecting, the cell. (Credit: modification of work by NIH, NIAID)

CAREER CONNECTION

Immunologist

The variations in peripheral proteins and carbohydrates that affect a cell’s recognition sites are of prime interest in immunology. In developing vaccines, researchers have been able to conquer many infectious diseases, such as smallpox, polio, diphtheria, and tetanus.

Immunologists are the physicians and scientists who research and develop vaccines, as well as treat and study allergies or other immune problems. Some immunologists study and treat autoimmune problems (diseases in which a person’s immune system attacks his or her own cells or tissues, such as lupus) and immunodeficiencies, whether acquired (such as acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or AIDS) or hereditary (such as severe combined immunodeficiency, or SCID). Immunologists also help treat organ transplantation patients, who must have their immune systems suppressed so that their bodies will not reject a transplanted organ. Some immunologists work to understand natural immunity and the effects of a person’s environment on it. Others work on questions about how the immune system affects diseases such as cancer. In the past, researchers did not understand the importance of having a healthy immune system in preventing cancer.

Immunologists who focus on certain types of diseases or pathogens can play an important role in saving lives during specific outbreaks and pandemics. Kizzmekia S. Corbett, for example, was a research fellow and scientific lead working specifically on coronaviruses. When the COVID-19 pandemic occurred, Corbett’s deep experience and knowledge was instrumental in developing one of the main vaccines (Moderna). She is now applying that experience to other respiratory diseases and vaccine development processes.

To work as an immunologist, one must have a PhD or MD. In addition, immunologists undertake at least two to three years of training in an accredited program and must pass the American Board of Allergy and Immunology exam. Immunologists must possess knowledge of the human body’s function as they relate to issues beyond immunization, and knowledge of pharmacology and medical technology, such as medications, therapies, test materials, and surgical procedures.

Section Summary

The modern understanding of the plasma membrane is referred to as the fluid mosaic model. The plasma membrane is composed of a bilayer of phospholipids, with their hydrophobic, fatty acid tails in contact with each other. The landscape of the membrane is studded with proteins, some of which span the membrane. Some of these proteins serve to transport materials into or out of the cell. Carbohydrates are attached to some of the proteins and lipids on the outward-facing surface of the membrane. These form complexes that function to identify the cell to other cells. The fluid nature of the membrane owes itself to the configuration of the fatty acid tails, the presence of cholesterol embedded in the membrane (in animal cells), and the mosaic nature of the proteins and protein-carbohydrate complexes, which are not firmly fixed in place. Plasma membranes enclose the borders of cells, but rather than being a static bag, they are dynamic and constantly in flux.

Exercises

Glossary

fluid mosaic model: a model of the structure of the plasma membrane as a mosaic of components, including phospholipids, cholesterol, proteins, and glycolipids, resulting in a fluid rather than static character

Media Attribution

  • Figure 7.1 by Rao, A., Ryan, K., Fletcher, S., Hawkins, A. and Tag, A. Department of Biology, Texas A&M University
  • Figure 7.2 by Foobar/Wikimedia Commons
  • Figure 7.3 micrograph, modification of work by Louisa Howard
  • Figure 7.4 modification of work by NIH, NIAID

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Introduction to Biology Copyright © 2023 by Natasha Ramroop Singh, PhD is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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