BIOL 241 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Sodium Channel, Gas Constant, Biological Membrane

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A biological membrane is made up of phospholipids and make up the main structure of this membrane in what is called a bilayer. Each phospholipid molecule has a head group that is hydrophilic (water loving) They usually contain several oxygen atoms and have one of more nitrogen atoms. Head group likes to interact with water through dipole-dipole interactions on both sides of the membrane. The long hydrocarbon tails have no oxygen or nitrogen atoms so therefore don"t like to be in contact with water. Bilayer consists of two layers where one is inverted so that the ends touch one another. The unsaturated tails have a kink in them. As a result, they don"t pack together nicely which helps contain the fluid like structure. Phospholipid bilayer has a thin hydrophobic layer in the middle which doesn"t let ions or polar molecules to pass through the membrane. Diffusion occurs when a molecule moves down its concentration gradient.

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