SP is made up of ions (Na +, K +, Zn +, Ca ++, Mg ++, Cl 2 ), energy substrates (fructose, sorbitol, glycerylphosphocholine), organic compounds (citric acid, amino acids, peptides, low– and high—molecular weight proteins, lipid, hormones, cytokines), and so on.

What’s it made up of? The cell membrane is primarily made up of three things: 1. Phospholipids 2. Cholesterol 3. Proteins 1) Phospholipids There are two important parts of a phospholipid: the head and the two tails. The head is a phosphate molecule that is attracted to water ( hydrophilic ).

The Fluid Mosaic Model. In 1972 S.J. Singer and G.L. Nicolson proposed the now widely accepted Fluid Mosaic Modelof the structure of cell membranes. The model proposes that integral membrane proteins are embedded in the phospholipid bilayer, as seen in Figure above. Some of these proteins extend all the way through the bilayer, and some only.

To perform these roles, the plasma membrane needs lipids, which make a semi-permeable barrier between the cell and its environment. It also needs proteins, which are involved in cross-membrane transport and cell communication, and carbohydrates (sugars and sugar chains), which decorate both the proteins and lipids and help cells recognize each other.

The plasma membrane of a cell is a network of lipids and proteins that forms the boundary between a cell’s contents and the outside of the cell. It is also simply called the cell membrane. The main function of the plasma membrane is to protect the cell from its surrounding environment. It is semi-permeable and regulates the materials that.

The plasma membrane is a flexible, lipid bilayer that surrounds and contains the cytoplasm of the cell. Based on their arrangement of molecules and the presence of certain specialized components, it is also described as the fluid mosaic model.