Discuss the statement “The cell membrane is a functional mosaic as well as a structural one?
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Answer:-
- The fluid mosaic model describes the structure of the plasma membrane as a mosaic of components —including phospholipids, cholesterol, proteins, and carbohydrates—that gives the membrane a fluid character. Plasma membranes range from 5 to 10 nm in thickness.
An improved model of the structure of cell membrane was proposed by Singer and Nicolson widely accepted as fluid mosaic model.
According to this the Quasi fluid nature of lipids enables lateral movement of proteins within the overall bilayer. This ability to move within the member is measured as its fluidity.
The fluid nature of the membrane is also important from the point of view of functions like cell growth, formation of intercellular junctions, secretion , endocytosis , cell division etc.
One of the most important function of the plasma membrane is the transport of the molecules across at.
The membrane is selectively permeable to some molecules present on either side of that many molecules can move briefly across the membrane without any requirement of energy and this is called a passive transport
Neutral solute may move across the membrane by the process of simple diffusion along the concentration gradient from higher concentration to the lower water name across this membrane from higher to lower concentration movement of water by diffusion is called osmosis.
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