Membrane fluidity

Membrane fluidity

In biology, the membrane fluidity refers to the viscosity of the lipid bilayer of a cell membrane. The membrane phospholipids incorporate fatty acids of varying length and saturation. Shorter-chain fatty acids, and ones with greater unsaturation, are less stiff, less viscous and have lower melting points. Changes in membrane-dependent functions, such as phagocytosis and cell signalling, are hypothesized to depend upon the cell-membrane fluidity.[1] This hypothesis lost favor,[citation needed] but has re-emerged recently with the discovery of discrete lipid domains, dubbed 'lipid rafts' in cellular membranes[2] The hypothesis is still controversial.

See also

Homeoviscous adaptation

References

  1. ^ Helmreich EJ (2003). "Environmental influences on signal transduction through membranes: a retrospective mini-review". Biophysical chemistry 100 (1-3): 519–34. doi:10.1016/S0301-4622(02)00303-4. PMID 12646388. 
  2. ^ Simons K, Vaz WL (2004). "Model systems, lipid rafts, and cell membranes". Annual review of biophysics and biomolecular structure 33: 269–95. doi:10.1146/annurev.biophys.32.110601.141803. PMID 15139814. 

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