Biology › Section C · Cell structure and membranes › Topic C.6
Membrane components and structure
Every cell lives inside a film 5 to 10 nanometers thick - a thousand times thinner than the red blood cell it wraps: a fluid mosaic of phospholipid bilayer, floating proteins, cholesterol, and an outer sugar coat. Its architecture decides what gets in, what stays out, and who the cell is.
In this topic
- What the membrane does
- The fluid mosaic model
- Composition by mass
- Phospholipids: the fabric
- Proteins: the machinery
- Carbohydrates: the name tag
- How viruses read the name tag
- Fluidity: kinks and buffers
- Worked example: why glucose needs a door
- Worked example: why a transplanted organ gets attacked
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Key takeaways
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