Cell & Molecular Physiology

Course Outline
• Introduction to cell physiology & organization
of the cell
• Molecular structure of membrane proteins &
transportation across membranes
• Cell-surface protein & steroid receptors
• Ion, neuronal & cardiac channels
• Molecular structure & functions of cell
organelles
• Mitochondrial Physiology & cell energetics
• Genetic control of cell & its significance
(DNA & RNA)
• DNA replication, transcription & translation
• Protein trafficking and post translational
modification; mechanisms in normal and
altered functions of cell to tissue and organ
systems (cardiovascular function)
• Molecular features of muscle physiology;
mechanisms of hormones action
Cell Physiology
 Why it is important to learn about the cell?
 It took a long time for people to discover
cells and figure out what they were all
about. They need sophisticated equipment
(microscopes) to be able to see cells.
 Every thing we know about cells is called
“cell theory”.
Cell Theory
1. All living things are made of cells.

2. Cells are the basic units of structure and

function in all living things. In other words,
cells are like the building blocks of all living
things.

3. New cells are only made from existing cells.

Cell
• It is considered to be the smallest structure
(unit) that has all the properties of living
things.
• 100 trillion cells survive in the body
surrounding fluid, contains the nutrients.
• Cell Nucleus

Cytoplasm
Protoplasm
Nucleus Nuclear membrane Nucleolus
Cytoplasm  Cell/plasma membrane
ProtoplasmWater70-85% except fat cell
Electrolytes K, Mg, Cl, Ca,
Sulfate,PO4,HCO3 Proteins10-
20%
(structural, functional)
LipidsPhospholipid(3%),
Cholesterol(2%),
Triglyceride(95%)
CarbohydratesNutrient(glycogen)
of the cell(1%)
3% muscle cell
6% liver cell
 Examples of Cells

Amoeba

Plant Stem

Bacteria

Red Blood Cell

Nerve Cell
• Two Major Types of Cells in
the Body
– Sex cells (gametes) - sperm
or egg
– Somatic cells - ALL other
cells in body

• The human body is made up of

many specialised cells that
perform specific functions.

• Specialised cells arise from the

differentiation of
unspecialised cells during
embryological development.
Specialized Cells of the Human Body
There are specialized cells - both in structure and
function - within the body, all cells have similarities in
their structural organization and metabolic needs (such as
maintaining energy levels via conversion of carbohydrate
to ATP and using genes to create and maintain proteins).

Nerve Cells: Neurons, these cells are in the nervous

system and function to process and transmit information.
They are the core components of the brain, spinal cord
and peripheral nerves. They use chemical and
electrical synapses to relay signals throughout
the body.
Epithelial cells: Functions of epithelial cells include
secretion, absorption, protection, trans-cellular transport,
sensation detection and selective permeability. Epithelium
lines both the outside (skin) and the inside cavities and
lumen of bodies.
Exocrine cells: These cells secrete products through
ducts, such as mucus, sweat, or digestive enzymes.
Endocrine cells: These cells are similar to exocrine cells,
but secrete their products directly into the bloodstream
instead of through a duct. Endocrine cells are found
throughout the body but are concentrated in hormone-
secreting glands such as the pituitary.
Blood Cells:
• Red blood cells (erythrocytes). The main function
of RBC’s is to collect oxygen in the lungs and
deliver it through the blood to the body tissues. Gas
exchange is carried out by simple diffusion.

• White blood cells (leukocytes). They are produced

in the bone marrow and help the body to fight
infectious disease and foreign objects in the
immune system. White cells are found in the
circulatory system, lymphatic system,
spleen, and other body tissues.
Cell/Plasma membrane
Phospholipid Bilayer

All membranes are phospholipid bilayers with

embedded proteins.

Hydrophilic
heads
Hydrophobic
tails
Asymmetric pattern of cell membrane in human RBC
 Plasma Membrane Components
 Amphipathic
molecules

 3 types of lipid
molecules
Phospholipid (75%)
Cholesterol (20%)
Glycolipid (5%)

 Hydrocarbon tails
(14-24 C atoms)
 2 types of proteins
• Integral (transmembrane)
• Peripheral (glycoprotein)

 Glycoproteins and glycolipids 5% (5-10%,

gangliosides; nerve cells) are proteins/lipids with
short chain carbohydrates attached on the
extracellular side of the membrane.
 Glycolipids; apical surface (to protect cell from
harsh conditions like…. Low pH & degradative
enzymes), also act as electric insulators.
 In myelin membrane (which serves mainly as
electrical insulation for nerve cell axons) less than
25% of the membrane mass is protein.

 In membranes involved in energy transduction

(such as the internal membranes of mitochondria
and chloroplasts) ~ 75% is protein.

 In usual plasma membrane, there is 50% of a

protein. About 50 lipid molecules for each protein
molecule in a membrane
 Embedded in the bilayer are proteins
– Most of the membrane’s functions are
accomplished by the embedded proteins.
• Integral proteins span the membrane
• Peripheral proteins are on one side or the other of the
membrane
 Carbohydrate of
glycoprotein

Glycoprotein

Glycolipid

Integrin

Phospholipid
Microfilaments
of cytoskeleton Cholesterol
• Peripheral proteins help support the plasma
membrane, anchor integral proteins, and participate in
mechanical activities such as moving materials and
organelles within cells, changing cell shape in
dividing and muscle cells and attaching cells to one
another.

• Integral proteins typically have hydrophobic

regions that span the bilayer as a result of nonpolar
amino acids arranged as helices. Anchored proteins
strengthen membranes.
Functions of integral
proteins
Plasma membrane proteins
serve diverse functions
including:
– Transport
– Enzymatic activity
– Signal transduction
– Intercellular joining
– Cell-cell recognition
– Attachment to the
cytoskeleton and
extracellular matrix
Transportation of molecules through protein channels
• Many membrane proteins are enzymes
– This is especially important on the membranes of
organelles (Glucokinase, Glu/Na).
• Signal transduction (receptor) proteins bind
hormones and other substances on the outside
of the cell.
– Binding triggers a change inside the cell.
• Called signal transduction
• Example: The binding of insulin to
insulin receptors causes the cell to put
glucose transport proteins into the
membrane.
• GH/GHR
 Messenger molecule

Receptor

Activated
molecule

Signal transduction
• The cytoskeleton attaches to integrins on the
cytoplasmic side of the membrane
– Integrins strengthen the membrane, e.g.
microvilli.
cytoskeleton attachment with the
integrin in microvilli
• Intercellular junction proteins - help
like cells stick together to form tissues,
e.g. cardiac tissue; adherence junction
gives mechanical attachment between
cells to expand and contract.
Intercellular junctions present in
cardiac tissues
• Cell-cell recognition proteins - identify type of
cell and identify a cell as “self” versus foreign
– Most are glycoproteins
• Carbohydrate chains vary between species,
individuals, and even between cell types in a
given individual.

• Glycolipids also play a role in cell recognition

Fluidity of the membrane
 Membranes are fluid structures.

 Most of the membrane lipids and many of

the membrane proteins easily rotate and
move sideways in their own half of the
bilayer.

 Neighboring lipid molecules exchange

places about 10 million times per second
and may wander completely around a cell
in only a few minutes.
 Membrane fluidity depends both on the
number of double bonds in the fatty acid
tails of the lipids that make up the bilayer,
and on the amount of cholesterol present.

 Double bond in a “kink” in the fatty acid

tail, increases membrane fluidity by
preventing lipid molecules from packing
tightly in the membrane.
 A shorter chain length reduces the tendency of the
hydrocarbon tails to interact with one another, and
cis-double bonds produce kinks in the hydrocarbon
chains that make them more difficult to pack
together, so that the membrane remains fluid at
lower temperatures.

 Bacteria, yeast whose temperatures fluctuate with that

of their environment adjust the fatty acid
composition of their membrane lipids so as to
maintain a relatively constant fluidity; as the
temperature falls, for instance, fatty acids with more
cis-double bonds are synthesized, so that the decrease
in bilayer fluidity that would otherwise result from the
drop in temperature is avoided.
• Flip-flop occurs less than
once a month for any
individual molecule.
• Lipid molecules readily
exchange places with their
neighbors within a monolayer
 The lipid bilayer of many cell membranes is not
composed exclusively of phospholipids, but also
contains cholesterol and glycolipids.

 Eukaryotic plasma membranes contain especially

large amounts of cholesterol - up to one molecule
for every phospholipid molecule. The cholesterol
molecules enhance the permeability-barrier
properties of the lipid bilayer.

 They orient themselves in the bilayer with their

hydroxyl groups close to the polar head groups of the
phospholipid molecules; their rigid, plate like steroid
rings interact with the hydrocarbon chain the fatty
acid
 Movement Across Membranes
A membrane’s composition results in selective permeability, small
molecules and ions moves across the plasma membrane in both
directions
1) For example; sugars, amino acids, and other nutrients
enter a muscle cell and metabolic waste products leave
2) The cell absorbs oxygen and expels carbon dioxide
3) It also regulates concentrations of inorganic ions, like
Na+, K+, Ca2+, and Cl-, by shuttling them across the
membrane
2. However, substances do not move across the barrier;
membranes are selectively permeable
Movement Across Membranes
 Membranes permeability
Permeability depends on the interaction of a molecule with the
hydrophobic core of the membrane.
a. Hydrophobic molecules, can dissolve in the lipid bilayer
and cross easily
1) hydrocarbons
2) CO2
3) O2
b. Ions and polar molecules pass through with difficulty.
1) small molecules, like water, and larger critical
molecules, like glucose and other sugars.
2) Ions, whether atoms or molecules, also have difficulties
penetrating the hydrophobic core.
c. Proteins can assist and regulate the transport of ions and
polar molecules.
 Traffic Across Membranes
• Passive Transport is • Active Transport is the
diffusion across a pumping of solutes
membrane against their gradients
• Osmosis is the passive • Sodium-Potassium
transport of water pump
• Cell survival depends • Co transport
on balancing water • Exocytosis,
uptake and loss Endocytosis, and
• Facilitated Diffusion Pinocytosis
Gradient across membrane
 A concentration gradient is a difference in the
concentration of a chemical from one place to
another, such as from the inside to the outside of the
plasma membrane.

 For instance, oxygen molecules and Na ions are more

concentrated in the extracellular fluid than in the
cytosol; the opposite is true of carbon dioxide
molecules and K ions.
 The plasma membrane creates a difference in the
distribution of positively and negatively charged ions
between the two sides of the plasma membrane.

 Typically, the inner surface of the plasma

membrane is more negatively charged and the outer
surface is more positively charged. A difference in
electrical charges between two regions constitutes an
electrical gradient.

 It occurs across the plasma membrane, this charge

difference is termed the membrane potential.
Transport across plasma membrane

• Passage across the membrane is either passive or

active
– Passive transport requires no ATP
 movement down concentration gradient
 facilitated and simple diffusion
– Active transport requires ATP
 movement against concentration gradient
 carrier mediated
 vesicular transport
Membrane proteins in transfer of molecules
Two main classes of membrane proteins that mediate
the transfer:
Carrier proteins (also called carriers, permeases, or
transporters); which have moving parts to shift
specific molecules across the membrane.

Channel proteins; which form a narrow hydrophilic

pore, allowing the passive movement of small
inorganic ions.
 Types of Transport Processes
 Diffusion; results from random motion of particles
(ions, molecules) is a passive process.

 Carrier-mediated transport; requires the presence

of specialized integral proteins, can be passive or
active.

 Vesicular transport; Movement of materials with

small membranous sacs, or vesicles, always an active
process.
 Tool to increase the permeability of the
specific ions
• Ionophores are small hydrophobic molecules that
dissolve in lipid bilayers and increase their
permeability to specific inorganic ions.

• Most are synthesized by microorganisms.

• They are widely used as tools to increase the ion

permeability of membranes in studies on synthetic
bilayers, cells, or cell organelles.
• There are two classes of ionophores - mobile ion
carriers and channel formers.
 Ionophore operate by shielding the charge of the
transported ion so that it can penetrate the
hydrophobic interior of the lipid bilayer.

 Valinomycin; a mobile ion carrier. It is a ring-

shaped polymer that transports K+ down its
electrochemical gradient by picking up K+ on one
side of the membrane, diffusing across the bilayer,
and releasing K+ on the other side.

 Ionophore A23187; another example of a mobile

ion carrier, but it transports divalent cations such as
Ca2+ and Mg2+.
 Gramicidin A; a channel-forming ionophore. Its a
linear peptide of only 15 amino acid residues, all
with hydrophobic side chains, it is the simplest and
best characterized ion channel.

 Two gramicidin molecules are thought to come

together end to end across the bilayer to form a
transmembrane channel which selectively allows
monovalent cations to flow down their
electrochemical gradients.
 Diffusion through lipid bilayer
• Nonpolar, hydrophobic substances diffuse through
lipid layer; these are “lipid soluble” or lipophilic
(fat-loving) substances.

 Diffusion through channel proteins

• Water and charged hydrophilic solutes diffuse
through channel proteins; these are lipid insoluble or
lipophobic (fat fearing) substances.
• Cells control permeability by regulating number of
channel proteins.
 Simple Diffusion
Net movement of particles from area of high
concentration to area of low concentration.

Due to their constant and random motion.

Difference between the high and low concentrations
is a concentration gradient.
Diffusion tends to eliminate the gradient.
Examples:
 Scent of fresh flowers, drop of ink coloring a
glass of water, movement of oxygen and CO2
through cell membranes
Simple diffusion – nonpolar and lipid-soluble
substances
 Diffuse directly through the lipid bilayer
 Diffuse through channel proteins
 Lipophilic substances can enter cells easily
because they diffuse through the lipid portion of
the membrane
 Examples are fatty acids, steroids, alcohol,
oxygen, carbon dioxide, and urea
 Factors that Influence Diffusion Rates
 Distance -
 The shorter the distance, the more quickly gradients are
eliminated
 Few cells are father than 125 microns from a blood vessel
 Pneumonia, fluid collects in the lungs; the additional fluid
increases the diffusion distance because oxygen must
move through both the built-up fluid and the membrane to
reach the bloodstream.
 Molecular Size
 Ions and small molecules diffuse more rapidly
 Factors that Influence Diffusion Rates
 Temperature -
 temp.,  motion of particles
Body’s diffusion processes occur rapidly in a person
with a fever.
 Steepness of concentrated gradient -
The larger the gradient, the faster diffusion
proceeds
 Membrane surface area -
 The larger the area, the faster diffusion proceed
 lung diseases, such as emphysema, reduce the surface
area. This slows the rate of oxygen diffusion and makes
breathing more difficult.
 Facilitated
 Channel-Mediated Diffusion
Diffusion
• Membrane channels are transmembrane proteins
Only 0.8 nm in diameter
• Used by ions, very small water-soluble
compounds
• Much more complex than simple diffusion
Size and charge of the ion affects which
channels it can pass through
 CARRIER-MEDIATED FACILITATED
DIFFUSION
a carrier (also called a transporter)
Used to move a solute down its concentration
gradient across the plasma membrane.
Solute binds to a specific carrier on one side of the
membrane and is released on the other side after the
carrier undergoes a change in shape.
Substances that move across the plasma membrane
by carrier mediated facilitated diffusion include
glucose, fructose, galactose, and some vitamins.
 Glucose enters many body cells by carrier-
mediated
facilitated diffusion as follows;
•Glucose binds to a specific type of carrier protein
called the glucose transporter (GluT) on the outside
surface of the membrane.
•As the transporter undergoes a change in shape,
glucose passes through the membrane.
•The transporter releases glucose on the other side
of
the membrane.
Diffusion Through the Plasma Membrane
Effect of Membrane Permeability on Diffusion
 Osmosis: A Special Case of Diffusion
 Each solute in the intra- and extracellular fluids diffuses
as if it were the only material in solution.
From more to less, i.e. down the concentration gradient
Some into the cytosol, others out of the cytosol
Yet, total concentration of ions and molecules on either
side of the membrane stays the same
This equilibrium persists because a typical cell
membrane is freely permeable to water.
 Whenever a solute concentration gradient exist, a
concentration gradient for water also exists.
Thus, the higher the solute concentration, the lower the
water concentration.
 Osmosis - By Definition
 Movement of water
 Across a selectively permeable membrane
 Down its concentration gradient (from high to low
concentration)
 Toward the solution containing the higher solute
concentration.
Continues until water concentrations and solute
concentrations are the same on either side of the
membrane
Two ways: (1) by moving through the lipid bilayer via
simple diffusion, as previously described earlier. (2) by
moving through aquaporins, integral membrane
proteins that function as water channels.
Osmosis & Cells
 Important because large volume changes caused by
water movement disrupt normal cell function
 Cell shrinkage or swelling
• Isotonic: cell neither shrinks nor swells
• Hypertonic: cell shrinks (crenation)
• Hypotonic: cell swells (lysis)
Effects of Tonicity on RBCs

Hypotonic, isotonic and hypertonic solutions affect the fluid

volume of a red blood cell. Notice the crenated and swollen
cells.
Filtration
 Cell membrane works like a sieve
 Depends on pressure difference on either side of a
partition
 Moves from side of greater pressure to lower
 Water and small molecules move through the pores of
the membrane while large molecules don’t.
 Example: urine formation in the kidneys.
Membrane Carriers
 Uniporter
 carries only one solute at a time
 Symport
 carries 2 or more solutes simultaneously in same
direction (cotransport)
 Antiport
 carries 2 or more solutes in opposite directions
(counter transport)
 sodium-potassium pump brings in K+ and removes
Na+ from cell
 Any carrier type can use either facilitated diffusion or
active transport
 Saturation of a Carrier Protein
1. When the concentration of x molecules outside the cell is
low, the transport rate is low because it is limited by the
number of molecules available to be transported.
2. When more molecules are present outside the cell, as long
as enough carrier proteins are available, more molecules
can be transported; thus, the transport rate increases.
3. The transport rate is limited by the number of carrier
proteins and the rate at which each carrier protein can
transport solutes. When the number of molecules outside
the cell is so large that the carrier proteins are all occupied,
the system is saturated and the transport rate cannot
increase.
Saturation of a Carrier Protein
 Active Transport
 Uses ATP to move solutes across a membrane
 It is not dependent on a concentration gradient
Can move substances against their concentration
gradients - i.e. from lower to higher concentrations.
Allows for greater accumulation of a substance on one
side of the membrane than on the other.
 Carrier proteins utilized called ion or exchange pumps.
Ion pumps: actively transport Na+, K+, Ca++, Cl-
Exchange pumps: Na+-K+ pump
 Types of Active Transport

• Primary active transport; (transport of solute

against its concentration gradient, coupled directly to
an exergonic chemical reaction, e.g., ATP hydrolysis).
• Secondary active transport; (energy from ATP
hydrolysis is used to generate a gradient of another
solute, and the transport of that solute "down" its
concentration gradient is used to drive transport of a
different solute against its concentration gradient)
Types of Active Transport
Types of Active Transport
Sodium-Potassium Pump
K+ is released and Na+ sites 1
are ready to bind Na+ again; Extracellular fluid Binding of cytoplasmic Na+ to the pump protein
the cycle repeats. stimulates phosphorylation by ATP.

Cytoplasm

2
Phosphorylation causes the
protein to change its shape.

Concentration gradients of K+
and Na+

3
5
Loss of phosphate restores the The shape change expels Na+ to the
original conformation of the pump outside, and extracellular K + binds.
protein. 4

K+ binding triggers release of the

phosphate group.
 Functions of Na+ -K+ Pump
 Regulation of cell volume
“fixed anions” attract cations causing osmosis
cell swelling stimulates the Na+- K+ pump to
 ion concentration,  osmolarity and cell swelling
 Maintenance of a membrane potential in all cells
pump keeps inside negative, outside positive
 Secondary active transport (ATP used not directly)
steep concentration gradient of Na+ and K+ maintained
across the cell membrane
carriers move Na+ with 2nd solute easily into cell
SGLT saves glucose in kidney
 Secondary Active Transport
 Ions or molecules move in same (symport) or different
(antiport) direction.
 Cotransport of Na+ and glucose.
 A sodium-potassium exchange pump maintains a
concentration of Na that is higher outside the cell
than inside. Active transport.
 Na moves back into the cell by a carrier protein that
also moves glucose. The concentration gradient for
Na provides the energy required to move glucose
against its concentration gradient.
Secondary Active Transport
 Vesicular Transport
 Transport large particles or fluid droplets through
membrane in vesicles
uses ATP
 Exocytosis –transport out of cell
 Endocytosis –transport into cell
phagocytosis – engulfing large particles
pinocytosis – taking in fluid droplets
receptor mediated endocytosis – taking in specific
molecules bound to receptors
 Endocytosis

 Packaging of extracellular materials in vesicles at the

cell surface.
 Involves relatively large volumes of extracellular
material.
 Requires energy in the form of ATP.
 Three major types
 Receptor-mediated endocytosis
 Pinocytosis
 Phagocytosis
Receptor Mediated Endocytosis
 A selective process, take up specific ligands.
 Involves formation of vesicles at surface of membrane
Vesicles contain receptors on their membrane
Vesicles contain specific target molecule in high
concentration.
cells take up cholesterol containing low-density
lipoproteins (LDLs), transferrin (an iron-transporting

protein in the blood), some vitamins, antibodies and

certain hormones by receptor-mediated endocytosis.
Clathrin-coated vesicle in
cytoplasm

 uptake of LDL from

bloodstream
 If receptors are lacking,
LDL’s accumulate and
hypercholesterolemia
develops
 Human immunodeficiency
virus (HIV), causes AIDS,
attach to a receptor called CD4
(plasma membrane of white
blood cells called helper T
cells). Binding to CD4, HIV
enters the helper T cell via
receptor-mediated
endocytosis.
Receptor Mediated Endocytosis
 Bulk-phase endocytosis or Pinocytosis
(Cell-Drinking)
 Taking in droplets of ECF
 occurs in all human cells, especially absorptive cells
in the intestines and kidneys.
 Not as selective as ‘receptor-mediated endocytosis’
 Membrane caves in, then pinches off into the
cytoplasm as pinocytotic vesicle.
 No receptors are involved.
Pinocytosis
Phagocytosis
 Vesicular Transport: Exocytosis
 Secreting material by secretary cells or replacement
of plasma membrane or occurs in nerve cells.
Passive Membrane Transport – Review -

Energy
Process Example
Source
Simple Movement of O2
Kinetic energy
diffusion through membrane
Facilitated Movement of glucose
Kinetic energy
diffusion into cells
Movement of H2O in &
Osmosis Kinetic energy
out of cells
Hydrostatic Formation of kidney
Filtration
pressure filtrate
 Active Membrane Transport – Review

Process Energy Source Example

Movement of ions across

Active transport of solutes ATP
membranes
Exocytosis ATP Neurotransmitter secretion
White blood cell
Endocytosis ATP
phagocytosis
Absorption by intestinal
Fluid-phase endocytosis ATP
cells
Receptor-mediated Hormone and cholesterol
ATP
endocytosis uptake
Endocytosis via caveolin ATP Cholesterol regulation
Endocytosis via coatomer Intracellular trafficking of
ATP
vesicles molecules
 Types of Cell Junctions
Contact points between the plasma membrane of tissue cells.

 Tight Junctions

 Desmosomes

 Gap Junctions

 Hemi-desmosomes

 Adherens
Tight Junctions
 Transmembrane Proteins of opposite cells attach in a
tight zipper-like fashion
 No leakage
 E.g. stomach, intestine, kidneys, epithelium of skin to
retard the passage of substances
between cells and prevent the
contents of these organs from leaking
into the blood or surrounding tissues.
Tight Junctions
Adherens Junctions
 contain plaque, a dense layer of proteins on the inside of the
plasma membrane that attaches both to membrane proteins
and microfilaments of the cytoskeleton. Transmembrane
glycoproteins called cadherins join the cells. Each cadherin
inserts into the plaque from the opposite side of the plasma
membrane, partially crosses the intercellular space (the space
between the cells) and connects to cadherins of an adjacent
cell.
 In epithelial cells, adherens junctions often form adhesion
belts because they encircle the cell similar to the way a belt
encircles your waist.
 Adherens junctions help epithelial surfaces resist separation
during various contractile activities, as when food moves
through the intestines.
 Desmosomes (desmo;bands)
 Cytoplasmic plaques of two cells bind with the aid of
intermediate filaments of keratin
 Allows for stretching
 E.g. Stomach, Bladder, Heart
Hemidesmosomes
 Resemble desmosomes but they do not link adjacent
cells. The name arises from the fact that they look like
half of a desmosome.
 The transmembrane glycoproteins in hemidesmosomes
are integrins rather than cadherins.
 On the inside of the plasma membrane, integrins
attach to intermediate filaments made of the protein
keratin.
 On the outside of the plasma membrane, the integrins
attach to the protein laminin, which is present in the
basement membrane.
 Thus, hemidesmosomes anchor cells not to each other
but to the basement membrane.
 Gap Junctions
 Channel proteins (connexons) of opposite cells join
together providing channels for ions, sugars, amino
acids, and other small molecules to pass.
 Allows communication between cells.
 E.g. Heart muscle, animal embryos, transfer of nutrients
and perhaps wastes, takes place
through gap junctions in avascular
tissues such as the lens and cornea
of the eye.
Gap Junctions
Importance of cell membrane
 Ion channels, pores or holes through which specific
ions, such as potassium ions (K), can flow to get into
or out of the cell. Most ion channels are selective;
they allow only a single type of ion to pass through.
 Act as carriers, selectively moving a polar substance
or ion from one side of the membrane to the other.
Carriers are also known as transporters.
 Receptors serve as cellular recognition sites. Each
type of receptor recognizes and binds a specific type
of molecule. For instance, insulin receptors bind the
hormone insulin.
 Enzymes that catalyze specific chemical reactions at
the inside or outside surface of the cell.
 Linkers, which anchor proteins in the plasma
membranes of neighboring cells to one another or to
protein filaments inside and outside the cell.
 Membrane glycoproteins and glycolipids often serve
as cell identity markers. They may enable a cell to
recognize other cells of the same kind during tissue
formation or to recognize and respond to potentially
dangerous foreign cells. The ABO blood type markers
are one example of cell identity markers. When you
receive a blood transfusion, the blood type must be
compatible with your own.