14 Facts About Cell membrane

Cell membrane is a biological membrane that separates and protects the interior of all cells from the outside environment .

The membrane contains membrane proteins, including integral proteins that span the membrane and serve as membrane transporters, and peripheral proteins that loosely attach to the outer side of the cell membrane, acting as enzymes to facilitate interaction with the cell's environment.

Entire Cell membrane is held together via non-covalent interaction of hydrophobic tails, however the structure is quite fluid and not fixed rigidly in place.

Proton pumps are protein pumps that are embedded in the lipid bilayer that allow protons to travel through the Cell membrane by transferring from one amino acid side chain to another.

Cell membrane, being exposed to the outside environment, is an important site of cell–cell communication.

The cell membrane plays a role in anchoring the cytoskeleton to provide shape to the cell, and in attaching to the extracellular matrix and other cells to hold them together to form tissues.

Cell membrane is selectively permeable and able to regulate what enters and exits the cell, thus facilitating the transport of materials needed for survival.

The movement of substances across the membrane can be achieved by either passive transport, occurring without the input of cellular energy, or by active transport, requiring the cell to expend energy in transporting it.

Passive osmosis and diffusion: Some substances such as carbon dioxide and oxygen, can move across the plasma Cell membrane by diffusion, which is a passive transport process.

The plasma Cell membrane creates a small deformation inward, called an invagination, in which the substance to be transported is captured.

The inner, plasma Cell membrane is generally symmetric whereas the outer Cell membrane is asymmetric because of proteins such as the aforementioned.

For example, when the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus was grown in 37C for 24h, the Cell membrane exhibited a more fluid state instead of a gel-like state.

Basolateral membrane is a compound phrase referring to the terms "basal membrane" and "lateral membrane", which, especially in epithelial cells, are identical in composition and activity.

Permeability of a Cell membrane is the rate of passive diffusion of molecules through the Cell membrane.