Chapter 6
Cell Membrane Structure and Functions
![What are Membranes?](https://cloudfront.jove.com/files/media/science-education/science-education-thumbs/11655.jpg)
A cell's plasma membrane demarcates the cell's borders and determines the nature of its interaction with the environment. Cells exclude…
![Membrane Proteins](https://cloudfront.jove.com/files/media/science-education/science-education-thumbs/11661.jpg)
Plasma membranes have integral transmembrane proteins involved in facilitated transport. These proteins are collectively referred to as transport…
![Membrane Carbohydrates](https://cloudfront.jove.com/files/media/science-education/science-education-thumbs/11660.jpg)
The plasma membrane is a dynamic barrier composed of lipids, proteins, and carbohydrates. It is the epicenter of many cellular processes required for…
![Glycocalyx and its Functions](https://cloudfront.jove.com/files/media/science-education/science-education-thumbs/13933.jpg)
The glycocalyx is a carbohydrate-rich, fuzzy-appearing layer on the outer surface of the cell membrane. It is highly hydrophilic, because of this it…
![Diffusion](https://cloudfront.jove.com/files/media/science-education/science-education-thumbs/13935.jpg)
Diffusion is a type of passive transport. In passive transport, a substance tends to move from an area of high concentration to an area of low…
![Facilitated Transport](https://cloudfront.jove.com/files/media/science-education/science-education-thumbs/11875.jpg)
The chemical and physical properties of plasma membranes cause them to be selectively permeable. Since plasma membranes have both hydrophobic and…
![Osmosis](https://cloudfront.jove.com/files/media/science-education/science-education-thumbs/13938.jpg)
Osmosis is the movement of free water molecules through a semipermeable membrane. The water's concentration gradient across the membrane is…
![Tonicity in Animals](https://cloudfront.jove.com/files/media/science-education/science-education-thumbs/13939.jpg)
Tonicity describes the amount of solute in a solution. The measure of the tonicity of a solution, or the total amount of solutes dissolved in a…
![Secondary Active Transport](https://cloudfront.jove.com/files/media/science-education/science-education-thumbs/11880.jpg)
One example of how cells use the energy contained in electrochemical gradients is demonstrated by glucose transport into cells. The ion vital to this…
![Introduction to Membrane Traffic](https://cloudfront.jove.com/files/media/science-education/science-education-thumbs/11948.jpg)
The ER, Golgi apparatus, endosomes, and lysosomes work in tandem to modify, sort, and package proteins and lipids. An integrated membrane trafficking…
![The Diffusion of Passive Tracers in Laminar Shear Flow](https://cloudfront.jove.com/files/thumbs/57205_t.png)
The Diffusion of Passive Tracers in Laminar Shear Flow
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A simple method to experimentally observe and measure the dispersion of a passive tracer in a laminar fluid flow is described. The method consists of…
![Visualizing Intracellular SNARE Trafficking by Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy](https://cloudfront.jove.com/files/thumbs/56745_t.png)
Visualizing Intracellular SNARE Trafficking by Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy
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Soluble N-ethylmaleimide sensitive fusion protein (NSF) attachment protein receptor (SNARE) proteins are key for membrane trafficking, as they…