Plasma Cell Membrane: Biomedical Sciences Assignment

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Plasma Cell Membrane
Introduction
The body is made up of various originals all of which function in sync with each other. The body has millions of cells all of which have specific function that collectively ensure that human body is running normally. Every cell exists in an environment and absorbs selectively some of the available components in the environment. For instance, a cell that is surrounded by water and body fluids will absorb the nutrients found in those fluids through the tiny pores found on the external side of the cells. The cells are separated from the external environment by a boundary known as the plasma membrane (Karp, p.27). The main role of the membrane is regulation the movement of fluids and nutrients in out of the cell. Plasma membrane acts as sieve determining what gets inside the cell, in what amounts and what is to remain outside the cell. This paper has delved deep into the various roles played by the plasma membrane while looking the structure of the membrane
Role of the Membrane
The normal body physiology is that cells have to maintain a certain level of molecules which are crucial in the functioning of the cell. Further, cells have mechanism that helps them maintain equilibrium between the content on the outside of the cell and the one inside. It is also crucial for the cell to have a mechanism that determines what gets in and the optimum amounts and the vice-versa is true. The primary role of the plasma membrane therefore is the enhancing the mechanism of absorption and determining what gets into the cell the level of absorption of removal that takes place (Cooper and Hausman, p.65).
Structure of the Membrane
The membrane has two layers made of phospholipids. Phospholipids are molecules which are organic in nature and which occur in natural form. Lipids are identified in terms of their solubility and phospholipids are those that have an attachment to a phosphate group (Karp, p. 19). The head of the lipid is attracted to water while the tail is water repellant. The surface of the plasma membrane consists of molecules made of cholesterol. The main function of the molecules is to ensure stability of the phospholipids thereby ensuring that they remain in position. In addition to the molecules, there are proteins that are also found on the surface of the membrane. The key function of the proteins is to provide channels through which molecules enter into and exit the cells.<...