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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...
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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...
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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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The plasma membrane is an essential cellular structure responsible for maintaining cellular integrity and regulating the selective transport of molecules. While bacteria and archaea share the fundamental function of plasma membranes, their structural and molecular differences reflect adaptations to distinct ecological and physiological challenges.Bacterial Plasma MembranesBacterial plasma membranes are predominantly composed of phospholipids with fatty acid chains ester-linked to a glycerol...
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Scientists identified the plasma membrane in the 1890s and its principal chemical components (lipids and proteins) by 1915. The model for plasma membrane structure, proposed in 1935 by Hugh Davson and James Danielli, was the first model to be widely accepted in the scientific community. The model was based on the plasma membrane's "railroad track" appearance in early electron micrographs. Davson and Danielli theorized that the plasma membrane's structure resembled a sandwich...
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Different physical properties of lipids and proteins allow them to localize and form distinct islands or domains in the membrane. Some membrane domains are formed due to protein-protein interactions, whereas others are formed due to the presence of specific lipids such as sphingolipids and sterols—for example, large proteins, such as bacteriorhodopsin, aggregate and create distinct domains.
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Critical Phenomena in Plasma Membrane Organization and Function.

Thomas R Shaw1, Subhadip Ghosh2, Sarah L Veatch1,2,3

  • 1Program in Applied Physics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA;

Annual Review of Physical Chemistry
|March 12, 2021
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Plasma membranes exhibit lateral organization, crucial for biological functions. This review explores how lipid organization and critical phenomena near miscibility points explain membrane heterogeneity and predict responses to composition changes.

Keywords:
cell membranecritical composition fluctuationslipid raftsmembrane microdomainsthermodynamics

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Area of Science:

  • Membrane biophysics
  • Cell biology
  • Biochemistry

Background:

  • Lateral organization of the plasma membrane influences biological processes.
  • Lipid organization is increasingly recognized for modulating membrane heterogeneity.
  • Liquid-liquid phase separation models explain observed membrane heterogeneity.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review evidence supporting the hypothesis that plasma membranes are near an equilibrium miscibility critical point.
  • To discuss the consequences of this critical point hypothesis for membrane behavior.
  • To explore how critical phenomena explain membrane heterogeneity and predict responses to perturbations.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of experimental and theoretical studies on membrane organization.
  • Analysis of biophysical mechanisms, particularly liquid-liquid phase separation.
  • Examination of critical phenomena in model and biological membranes.

Main Results:

  • Evidence supports the role of lipid organization in plasma membrane heterogeneity.
  • The critical point hypothesis provides a framework for understanding membrane heterogeneity.
  • Critical phenomena offer explanations for observed heterogeneity and predict novel phenomena.

Conclusions:

  • Plasma membranes may exist near an equilibrium miscibility critical point.
  • This proximity to a critical point explains membrane heterogeneity and dynamic responses.
  • Understanding critical phenomena in membranes opens new avenues for research into cellular functions.