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Related Concept Videos

What are Membranes?01:24

What are Membranes?

A cell's plasma membrane demarcates the cell's borders and determines the nature of its interaction with the environment. Cells exclude certain substances, take in others, and excrete some others in controlled quantities. The plasma membrane must be flexible to allow certain cells, such as red and white blood cells, to change their shape while passing through narrow capillaries. These are the more obvious plasma membrane functions. In addition, the plasma membrane's surface carries markers that...
What are Membranes?01:54

What are Membranes?

A key characteristic of life is the ability to separate the external environment from the internal space. To do this, cells have evolved semi-permeable membranes that regulate the passage of biological molecules. Additionally, the cell membrane defines a cell’s shape and interactions with the external environment. Eukaryotic cell membranes also serve to compartmentalize the internal space into organelles, including the endomembrane structures of the nucleus, endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi...
What are Membranes?01:24

What are Membranes?

A cell's plasma membrane demarcates the cell's borders and determines the nature of its interaction with the environment. Cells exclude certain substances, take in others, and excrete some others in controlled quantities. The plasma membrane must be flexible to allow certain cells, such as red and white blood cells, to change their shape while passing through narrow capillaries. These are the more obvious plasma membrane functions. In addition, the plasma membrane's surface carries markers that...
Membrane Fluidity01:26

Membrane Fluidity

Membrane fluidity is explained by the fluid mosaic model of the cell membrane, which describes the plasma membrane structure as a mosaic of components—including phospholipids, cholesterol, proteins, and carbohydrates—that gives the membrane a fluid character.
Mosaic nature of the membrane
The mosaic characteristic of the membrane helps the plasma membrane remain fluid. The integral proteins and lipids exist as separate but loosely-attached molecules in the membrane. The membrane is a relatively...
Membrane Fluidity01:23

Membrane Fluidity

Cell membranes are composed of phospholipids, proteins, and carbohydrates loosely attached to one another through chemical interactions. Molecules are generally able to move about in the plane of the membrane, giving the membrane its flexible nature called fluidity. Two other features of the membrane contribute to membrane fluidity: the chemical structure of the phospholipids and the presence of cholesterol in the membrane.Fatty acids tails of phospholipids can be either saturated or...
Membrane Domains01:18

Membrane Domains

The membrane domains concentrate specific lipids and proteins at one place within the membrane, which helps in cell signaling, adhesion, and other critical cellular processes. These domains can differ in size, composition, function, and lifespan.
Protein Domains
The membrane comprises a group of distinct proteins responsible for carrying out a cell's specific function. For example, the plasma membrane of the human sperm, or a single germ cell, contains a unique set of proteins in the anterior...

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THE FLEXIBILITY GRADIENT IN BIOLOGICAL MEMBRANES.

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences·2017
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Cholesterol depletion induces solid-like regions in the plasma membrane.

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Cholesterol depletion suppresses the translational diffusion of class II major histocompatibility complex proteins in the plasma membrane.

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Cytokines elicited by T cell epitopes from a synovial autoantigen: altered peptide ligands can reduce interferon-gamma and interleukin-10 production.

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 5, 2026

Realistic Membrane Modeling Using Complex Lipid Mixtures in Simulation Studies
07:31

Realistic Membrane Modeling Using Complex Lipid Mixtures in Simulation Studies

Published on: September 1, 2023

Understanding membranes.

Harden M McConnell1

  • 1Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA. harden@stanford.edu

ACS Chemical Biology
|May 20, 2008
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Giant plasma membrane blebs exhibit fluorescence intensity fluctuations in lipid probes, revealing insights into animal cell membrane physical states. These fluctuations mirror the theoretical 2D Ising ferromagnet model, linked to lipid liquid-liquid phase separation.

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Last Updated: Jul 5, 2026

Realistic Membrane Modeling Using Complex Lipid Mixtures in Simulation Studies
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Published on: September 1, 2023

A Model Membrane Platform for Reconstituting Mitochondrial Membrane Dynamics
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Area of Science:

  • Biophysics
  • Cell Biology
  • Materials Science

Background:

  • Giant plasma membrane blebs are dynamic structures involved in cell signaling and mechanics.
  • Lipid probes are crucial for visualizing and quantifying membrane properties.
  • Lateral liquid-liquid phase separation influences membrane organization and function.

Discussion:

  • Fluorescence intensity fluctuations in lipid probes within membrane blebs provide a novel method to probe lipid physical states.
  • The observed fluctuations correlate with temperature-dependent lateral liquid-liquid phase separation.
  • This phenomenon offers a unique experimental system to study phase transitions in 2D systems.

Key Insights:

  • The physical state of lipids in animal cell membranes can be inferred from fluorescence intensity fluctuations.
  • Giant plasma membrane blebs exhibit phase separation behavior analogous to 2D liquid-liquid critical systems.
  • The 2D Ising ferromagnet model accurately describes the observed fluorescence intensity fluctuations.

Outlook:

  • Further investigation into the universality of this phenomenon across different cell types and membrane compositions.
  • Exploring the potential of using these fluctuations as a biomarker for cellular health or disease.
  • Developing advanced theoretical models to fully capture the complex dynamics of membrane phase transitions.