Essential Idea:
The structure of biological membranes
makes them fluid and dynamic
Understandings:
- Phospholipids form bilayers in water due to the amphipathic properties of phospholipid molecules
- Membrane proteins are diverse in terms of structure, position in the membrane and function
- Cholesterol is a component of animal cell membranes
Applications:
- Cholesterol in mammalian membranes reduces membrane fluidity and permeability to some solutes
Skills:
- Drawing of the fluid mosaic model
- Analysis of evidence from electron microscopy that lead to the proposal of the Davson-Danielli model
- Analysis of the falsification of the Davson-Danielli model that lead to the Singer-Nicolson model