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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...
Lifecycle of Erythrocytes01:22

Lifecycle of Erythrocytes

Erythrocytes, also known as red blood cells, constantly move through blood capillaries. As a result, they damage their plasma membrane due to the continuous friction. Typically, after 100 to 120 days, erythrocytes become rigid and fragile as they wear out. As they pass through small vessels in the spleen and liver, they can get trapped and break apart into fragments.
The resident phagocytic macrophages deal with these damaged cells by engulfing them and separating their globin and heme groups.
Membrane Carbohydrates01:30

Membrane Carbohydrates

The plasma membrane is a dynamic barrier composed of lipids, proteins, and carbohydrates. It is the epicenter of many cellular processes required for cell growth and survival. Carbohydrates have unique structural and chemical properties that help the plasma membrane to carry out its functions effectively.
Membrane carbohydrates do not have any hydrophobic region and are exclusively located on the cell's outer surface. The addition of sugar molecules or glycosylation of proteins happens in...
Enlargement of the Plasma Membrane01:22

Enlargement of the Plasma Membrane

Cell division and enlargement are processes that require precise control. The control ensures that cell division cannot proceed unless the cell has grown to a specific size. A spherical, dividing cell requires an approximately 1.6X increase in its surface area to double its volume. The secretory pathway also has a significant role in cell membrane enlargement. Secretory vesicles that bud off from the Golgi apparatus and later fuse with the plasma membrane during exocytosis are a major source of...

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Antigens Protected Functional Red Blood Cells By The Membrane Grafting Of Compact Hyperbranched Polyglycerols
11:31

Antigens Protected Functional Red Blood Cells By The Membrane Grafting Of Compact Hyperbranched Polyglycerols

Published on: January 2, 2013

Red cell membrane: past, present, and future.

Narla Mohandas1, Patrick G Gallagher

  • 1Red Cell Physiology Laboratory, New York Blood Center, New York, NY, USA. MNarla@NYBloodcenter.org

Blood
|November 8, 2008
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Red cell abnormalities, common inherited disorders, affect over 1 billion people due to malaria selection. Research details red blood cell membrane structure and function in health and disease.

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Area of Science:

  • Hematology
  • Cell Biology
  • Biophysics

Background:

  • Red cell abnormalities are the most common inherited disorders, affecting over 1 billion people globally.
  • These conditions are a result of natural selection driven by severe forms of malaria.
  • The red blood cell membrane is crucial, dictating the cell's antigenic, transport, and mechanical properties.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To elucidate the structural and functional characteristics of the red blood cell membrane.
  • To understand how the red cell membrane's components contribute to its mechanical properties and function.
  • To investigate the mechanisms underlying red cell membrane failure in disease states.

Main Methods:

  • Structural characterization of red cell membrane constituents.
  • Functional analysis of membrane proteins and lipids.
  • Biophysical and physiological studies of red blood cell mechanics.

Main Results:

  • Detailed descriptions of how red cell membrane constituents generate mechanical properties.
  • Insights into the failure mechanisms of red cell membranes in disease.
  • Identification of the red cell membrane as a composite structure of lipids, phospholipids, and skeletal proteins.

Conclusions:

  • The red cell membrane's unique structure underpins its essential functions in health.
  • Understanding membrane dysfunction is key to comprehending red blood cell disorders.
  • Ongoing research continues to reveal novel aspects of red cell membrane biology with implications for other cell types.