A report on Lipid bilayer

This fluid lipid bilayer cross section is made up entirely of phosphatidylcholine.
The three main structures phospholipids form in solution; the liposome (a closed bilayer), the micelle and the bilayer.
Schematic cross sectional profile of a typical lipid bilayer. There are three distinct regions: the fully hydrated headgroups, the fully dehydrated alkane core and a short intermediate region with partial hydration. Although the head groups are neutral, they have significant dipole moments that influence the molecular arrangement.
TEM image of a bacterium. The furry appearance on the outside is due to a coat of long-chain sugars attached to the cell membrane. This coating helps trap water to prevent the bacterium from becoming dehydrated.
Diagram showing the effect of unsaturated lipids on a bilayer. The lipids with an unsaturated tail (blue) disrupt the packing of those with only saturated tails (black). The resulting bilayer has more free space and is, as a consequence, more permeable to water and other small molecules.
Illustration of a GPCR signaling protein. In response to a molecule such as a hormone binding to the exterior domain (blue) the GPCR changes shape and catalyzes a chemical reaction on the interior domain (red). The gray feature is the surrounding bilayer.
Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) image of a lipid vesicle. The two dark bands around the edge are the two leaflets of the bilayer. Historically, similar images confirmed that the cell membrane is a bilayer
Human red blood cells viewed through a fluorescence microscope. The cell membrane has been stained with a fluorescent dye. Scale bar is 20μm.
3d-Adapted AFM images showing formation of transmembrane pores (holes) in supported lipid bilayer
Illustration of a typical AFM scan of a supported lipid bilayer. The pits are defects in the bilayer, exposing the smooth surface of the substrate underneath.
Structure of a potassium ion channel. The alpha helices penetrate the bilayer (boundaries indicated by red and blue lines), opening a hole through which potassium ions can flow
Schematic illustration of pinocytosis, a type of endocytosis
Exocytosis of outer membrane vesicles (MV) liberated from inflated periplasmic pockets (p) on surface of human Salmonella 3,10:r:- pathogens docking on plasma membrane of macrophage cells (M) in chicken ileum, for host-pathogen signaling in vivo.
Schematic showing two possible conformations of the lipids at the edge of a pore. In the top image the lipids have not rearranged, so the pore wall is hydrophobic. In the bottom image some of the lipid heads have bent over, so the pore wall is hydrophilic.
Illustration of lipid vesicles fusing showing two possible outcomes: hemifusion and full fusion. In hemifusion, only the outer bilayer leaflets mix. In full fusion both leaflets as well as the internal contents mix.
Schematic illustration of the process of fusion through stalk formation.
Diagram of the action of SNARE proteins docking a vesicle for exocytosis. Complementary versions of the protein on the vesicle and the target membrane bind and wrap around each other, drawing the two bilayers close together in the process.

Thin polar membrane made of two layers of lipid molecules.

- Lipid bilayer
This fluid lipid bilayer cross section is made up entirely of phosphatidylcholine.

37 related topics with Alpha

Overall
Illustration of a Eukaryotic cell membrane

Cell membrane

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Biological membrane that separates the interior of all cells from the outside environment (the extracellular space) and protects the cell from its environment.

Biological membrane that separates the interior of all cells from the outside environment (the extracellular space) and protects the cell from its environment.

Illustration of a Eukaryotic cell membrane
Comparison of Eukaryotes vs. Prokaryotes
Examples of the major membrane phospholipids and glycolipids: phosphatidylcholine (PtdCho), phosphatidylethanolamine (PtdEtn), phosphatidylinositol (PtdIns), phosphatidylserine (PtdSer).
A detailed diagram of the cell membrane
Illustration depicting cellular diffusion
Diagram of the arrangement of amphipathic lipid molecules to form a lipid bilayer. The yellow polar head groups separate the grey hydrophobic tails from the aqueous cytosolic and extracellular environments.
Alpha intercalated cell
Diagram of the Cell Membrane's structures.

The cell membrane consists of a lipid bilayer, made up of two layers of phospholipids with cholesterols (a lipid component) interspersed between them, maintaining appropriate membrane fluidity at various temperatures.

Onion (Allium cepa) root cells in different phases of the cell cycle (drawn by E. B. Wilson, 1900)

Cell (biology)

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Basic structural and functional unit of life forms.

Basic structural and functional unit of life forms.

Onion (Allium cepa) root cells in different phases of the cell cycle (drawn by E. B. Wilson, 1900)
Structure of a typical prokaryotic cell
Structure of a typical animal cell
Structure of a typical plant cell
Detailed diagram of lipid bilayer of cell membrane
A fluorescent image of an endothelial cell. Nuclei are stained blue, mitochondria are stained red, and microfilaments are stained green.
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)
Human cancer cells, specifically HeLa cells, with DNA stained blue. The central and rightmost cell are in interphase, so their DNA is diffuse and the entire nuclei are labelled. The cell on the left is going through mitosis and its chromosomes have condensed.
Diagram of the endomembrane system
Prokaryotes divide by binary fission, while eukaryotes divide by mitosis or meiosis.
An outline of the catabolism of proteins, carbohydrates and fats
An overview of protein synthesis. Within the nucleus of the cell (light blue), genes (DNA, dark blue) are transcribed into RNA. This RNA is then subject to post-transcriptional modification and control, resulting in a mature mRNA (red) that is then transported out of the nucleus and into the cytoplasm (peach), where it undergoes translation into a protein. mRNA is translated by ribosomes (purple) that match the three-base codons of the mRNA to the three-base anti-codons of the appropriate tRNA. Newly synthesized proteins (black) are often further modified, such as by binding to an effector molecule (orange), to become fully active.
Staining of a Caenorhabditis elegans highlights the nuclei of its cells.
Stromatolites are left behind by cyanobacteria, also called blue-green algae. They are the oldest known fossils of life on Earth. This one-billion-year-old fossil is from Glacier National Park in the United States.
Robert Hooke's drawing of cells in cork, 1665

This membrane serves to separate and protect a cell from its surrounding environment and is made mostly from a double layer of phospholipids, which are amphiphilic (partly hydrophobic and partly hydrophilic).

(A) Electron micrograph of Halothiobacillus neapolitanus cells, arrows highlight carboxysomes. (B) Image of intact carboxysomes isolated from H. neapolitanus. Scale bars are 100 nm.

Organelle

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Organelle is a specialized subunit, usually within a cell, that has a specific function.

Organelle is a specialized subunit, usually within a cell, that has a specific function.

(A) Electron micrograph of Halothiobacillus neapolitanus cells, arrows highlight carboxysomes. (B) Image of intact carboxysomes isolated from H. neapolitanus. Scale bars are 100 nm.
Structure of Candidatus Brocadia anammoxidans, showing an anammoxosome and intracytoplasmic membrane

Organelles are either separately enclosed within their own lipid bilayers (also called membrane-bound organelles) or are spatially distinct functional units without a surrounding lipid bilayer (non-membrane bound organelles).

Structures of some common lipids. At the top are cholesterol and oleic acid. The middle structure is a triglyceride composed of oleoyl, stearoyl, and palmitoyl chains attached to a glycerol backbone. At the bottom is the common phospholipid phosphatidylcholine.

Lipid

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Biomolecule that is soluble in nonpolar solvents.

Biomolecule that is soluble in nonpolar solvents.

Structures of some common lipids. At the top are cholesterol and oleic acid. The middle structure is a triglyceride composed of oleoyl, stearoyl, and palmitoyl chains attached to a glycerol backbone. At the bottom is the common phospholipid phosphatidylcholine.
I2 - Prostacyclin (an example of a prostaglandin, an eicosanoid fatty acid)
LTB4 (an example of a leukotriene, an eicosanoid fatty acid)
Example of an unsaturated fat triglyceride (C55H98O6). Left part: glycerol; right part, from top to bottom: palmitic acid, oleic acid, alpha-linolenic acid.
Phosphatidylethanolamine
Sphingomyelin
Chemical structure of cholesterol.
Prenol lipid (2E-geraniol)
Structure of the saccharolipid Kdo2-lipid A. Glucosamine residues in blue, Kdo residues in red, acyl chains in black and phosphate groups in green.
Self-organization of phospholipids: a spherical liposome, a micelle, and a lipid bilayer.

Glycerophospholipids, usually referred to as phospholipids (though sphingomyelins are also classified as phospholipids), are ubiquitous in nature and are key components of the lipid bilayer of cells, as well as being involved in metabolism and cell signaling.

Scheme of a liposome formed by phospholipids in an aqueous solution.

Vesicle (biology and chemistry)

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Scheme of a liposome formed by phospholipids in an aqueous solution.
Sarfus image of lipid vesicles.
Electron micrograph of a cell containing a food vacuole (fv) and transport vacuole (tv) in a malaria parasite.

In cell biology, a vesicle is a structure within or outside a cell, consisting of liquid or cytoplasm enclosed by a lipid bilayer.

Cross-sectional view of the structures that can be formed by phospholipids in an aqueous solution

Biological membrane

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Selectively permeable membrane that separates cell from the external environment or creates intracellular compartments.

Selectively permeable membrane that separates cell from the external environment or creates intracellular compartments.

Cross-sectional view of the structures that can be formed by phospholipids in an aqueous solution
A fluid membrane model of the phospholipid bilayer.

Biological membranes, in the form of eukaryotic cell membranes, consist of a phospholipid bilayer with embedded, integral and peripheral proteins used in communication and transportation of chemicals and ions.

Phospholipid arrangement in cell membranes.

Phospholipid

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Alcohol residue .

Alcohol residue .

Phospholipid arrangement in cell membranes.
Phosphatidylcholine is the major component of lecithin. It is also a source for choline in the synthesis of acetylcholine in cholinergic neurons.
Phospholipid bilayers are the main structural component of the cell membranes.

They can form lipid bilayers because of their amphiphilic characteristic.

Substrate presentation; PLD (blue oval) is sequestered into cholesterol-dependent lipid domains (green lipids) by palmitoylation. PLD also binds PIP2(red hexagon) domains (grey shading) located in the disordered region of the cell with phosphatidylcholine (PC). When cholesterol decreases or PIP2 increases in the cell, PLD translocates to PIP2 where it is exposed to and hydrolizes PC to phosphatidic acid (red spherical lipid).

Cholesterol

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Any of a class of certain organic molecules called lipids.

Any of a class of certain organic molecules called lipids.

Substrate presentation; PLD (blue oval) is sequestered into cholesterol-dependent lipid domains (green lipids) by palmitoylation. PLD also binds PIP2(red hexagon) domains (grey shading) located in the disordered region of the cell with phosphatidylcholine (PC). When cholesterol decreases or PIP2 increases in the cell, PLD translocates to PIP2 where it is exposed to and hydrolizes PC to phosphatidic acid (red spherical lipid).
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Lipid logistics: transport of triglycerides and cholesterol in organisms in form of lipoproteins as chylomicrons, VLDL, LDL, IDL, HDL.
Cholesterolemia and mortality for men and women 60 years
Reference ranges for blood tests, showing usual, as well as optimal, levels of HDL, LDL, and total cholesterol in mass and molar concentrations, is found in orange color at right, that is, among the blood constituents with the highest concentration.
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Cholesterol units conversion
Steroidogenesis, using cholesterol as building material
Space-filling model of the Cholesterol molecule
Numbering of the steroid nuclei

The hydroxyl group of each cholesterol molecule interacts with water molecules surrounding the membrane, as do the polar heads of the membrane phospholipids and sphingolipids, while the bulky steroid and the hydrocarbon chain are embedded in the membrane, alongside the nonpolar fatty-acid chain of the other lipids.

Micrograph of rough endoplasmic reticulum network around the nucleus (shown in the lower right-hand area of the picture). Dark small circles in the network are mitochondria.

Endoplasmic reticulum

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The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is, in essence, the transportation system of the eukaryotic cell, and has many other important functions such as protein folding.

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is, in essence, the transportation system of the eukaryotic cell, and has many other important functions such as protein folding.

Micrograph of rough endoplasmic reticulum network around the nucleus (shown in the lower right-hand area of the picture). Dark small circles in the network are mitochondria.
1 Nucleus 2 Nuclear pore 3 Rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER) 4 Smooth endoplasmic reticulum (SER) 5 Ribosome on the rough ER 6 Proteins that are transported 7 Transport vesicle 8 Golgi apparatus 9 Cis face of the Golgi apparatus 10 Trans face of the Golgi apparatus 11 Cisternae of the Golgi apparatus
3D rendering of endoplasmic reticulum
A 2-minute animation showing how a protein destined for the secretory pathway is synthesized into the rough endoplasmic reticulum, which appears at the upper right approximately halfway through the animation.
Electron micrograph showing smooth ER (arrow) in mouse tissue, at 110,510× magnification.
Skeletal muscle fiber, with sarcoplasmic reticulum colored in blue.
Ca2+-antagonized transport into the endoplasmic reticulum (CaATiER) model

The phospholipid membrane encloses the cisternal space (or lumen), which is continuous with the perinuclear space but separate from the cytosol.

Two mitochondria from mammalian lung tissue displaying their matrix and membranes as shown by electron microscopy

Mitochondrion

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Two mitochondria from mammalian lung tissue displaying their matrix and membranes as shown by electron microscopy
Simplified structure of a mitochondrion.
Cross-sectional image of cristae in a rat liver mitochondrion to demonstrate the likely 3D structure and relationship to the inner membrane
Electron transport chain in the mitochondrial intermembrane space
Transmission electron micrograph of a chondrocyte, stained for calcium, showing its nucleus (N) and mitochondria (M).
Typical mitochondrial network (green) in two human cells (HeLa cells)
Model of the yeast multimeric tethering complex, ERMES
Evolution of MROs
The circular 16,569 bp human mitochondrial genome encoding 37 genes, i.e., 28 on the H-strand and 9 on the L-strand.

A mitochondrion is a double-membrane-bound organelle found in most eukaryotic organisms.