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| The most common constituent of any [[Lipid bilayer|lipid bilayer]] making up a cell membrane is the phospholipid. Phospholipids are [[Amphiphilic|amphiphilic]]. They have a [[Polar|polar]] head and two hydrocarbon tails, which are [[Non-polar|nonpolar]]. The phosopholipids that make up the cell membranes of plant, bacterial or animal cells often have [[Fatty acids|fatty acids]] tails. Of these two fatty acid tails one is unsaturated (contains double bonds) and the other is saturated. This difference causes variation in the length of the tails and thus alters the fluidity of the [[Plasma membrane|membrane]].<ref name="null">Bruce Alberts,Alexander Johnson, Julian Lewis, Martin Raff, Keith Roberts, Peter Walter, Molecular Biology of the Cell, Fifth edition, 2008, Garland Science, New York. p618</ref> The chemical make up of the tails can differ. This means that there are many different phospholipids that can make up a cell membrane. The main type used are the phosphoglycerides. The phospholipid [[Lipid bilayer|bilayer]] acts as a barrier allowing the smaller molecules such as O<sub>2</sub> and glycerol in, but keeping larger molecules such as amino acids and ions out. Thes bilayer can be broken down by detergents.
| | See [[Phospholipid|phospholipid]] |
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Latest revision as of 22:25, 8 January 2011