Cell Membrane

1. The Plasma Membrane (members only!)

● Cytoplasm is surrounded by the plasma membrane
● It controls what comes in and out of the cell
● Protects the cell and maintains ion concentration

2. Membrane composition:
● Phospholipids
● Proteins
● Carbohydrates
● Cholestrol

3. Phospholipids:
● Key molecule in the making of the membrane
● Head is hydrophilic (water loving)
● Tail is hydrophobic (water fearing)
● 2 fatty acids make up its tail
● Glycerol: a 3 carbon molecule; what the head and tails are attached to

4. (Phospholipid) Bilayer
● Formation that phospholipids assume when under water
● Hydrophobic tails are attracted to each other
● Hydrophilic heads are oriented towards the cytoplasm

5. Fluid Mosaic Model

● Model that describes the structure of cell membranes
● Phospholipids form thin, flexible layer
● Cholestrol gives the cell some rigidity
● Proteins float
● Carbs extend out from the proteins

6. Features of the plasma membrane:

● Phospholipid Bilayer
● Intrinsic/ Extrinsic Proteins
● Glycoproteins
● Receptors
● Cholestrol

7. Intrinsic Proteins:
 ● span from one side of the phospholipid to the other
● Involved in facilitated diffusion
● Transport water soluble molecules (like glucose)
● Changes shape and flips between 2 states
● Substance will bind on the high concentration side and will be released where it
is at a low concentration ??

8. Extrinsic Proteins:
● Proteins that sit on the surfaces of the bilayer

9. Membrane Proteins:
● Channel Proteins: transports and controls the exit and entry of ions
- “Gated proteins” fixed shape but can open and close
● Carrier Proteins: facilitates the movement of substances across the membrane
● Receptor Proteins: allow the attachment of certain hormones and signaling
other molecules/ Protein that detects a signal molecule and allows an action in
response
○ Glycoproteins: important in cell recognition (made from proteins+carbs)

Diffusion and Transport

1. Diffusion:
● Always passive (does not require energy)

2. Simple diffusion: molecules from high concentration to low across plasma membrane
until equilibrium is reached (high→ low)
● What can diffuse?
- Lipid soluble
- Non polar (no charge)
- Very small
- E.g: oxygen and carbon dioxide

3. Facilitated diffusion: diffusion with the help of protein molecules

● What can diffuse?
- Water soluble
- Polar (charged)
- Large
- E.g: glucose and ions

4. What can speeds up and slows down diffusion?

● Temperature
● Surface area
● Difference in concentration on either side of the exchange surface
 5. Active Transport:
● Transport of a molecule/ion against a concentration gradient (Low→ High)
● Not natural, so requires energy (ATP)
● Involves carrier proteins in the membrane
● Cells involved in active transport have more mitochondria

Osmosis

1. Osmosis: movement of water from a high concentration of water to a low concentration

of water across a partially permeable membrane

2. Osmosis vs Diffusion?
● Osmosis: water molecules, thru a semi-permeable membrane
● Diffusion: any molecules

3. Types of solutions
● Hypertonic: solution that has a higher concetration of solutes than the cell
● Hypotonic: solution that has a lower concentration of solutes than the cell
● Isotonic: a solution that has same concentration of solutes than the cell

4. Animal Cells in Solutions

● Hypertonic: lose water and shrivels
● Hypotonic: Take in water and possibly burst

5. Plant Cells in Solutions

● Hypertonic: vacuole shrinks and cell membrane detaches from cell wall
(plasmolysed)
● Hypotonic: vacuole fills and pushes the cell membrane against the cell wall. Cell
walls prevent cells from bursting.

6. Bacteria Cells in Solutions:

● Hypertonic: water will leave bacteria and cell shrivels; without water it will die
● Hypotoic: take on water but cell wall protects them

Cellular Energy

1. Autotrophs: organisms that are able to use light energy from the sun to produce food
(plants)

2. Heterotrophs: organisms that are unable to directly use light energy to produce food
(animals)

3. Energy comes in many forms: light, electricity and heat

 4. ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate): main energy source that cells use for most of their work/
chemical compound used by cells to store and release energy
● Adenine
● Ribose
● 3 phosphate groups

5. ADP (Adenosine Diphosphate): The compound that remains when a phosphate group is
removed from ATP, releasing energy

6. ATP powers: muscle contractions, active transport and protein synthesis

Photosynthesis

1. Process in which plants use the energy of sunlight to convert water and carbon dioxide
into high energy carbohydrates and oxygen.

2. Equation: 6C02+6H20→ (light) = C6H1206+602

Carbon dioxide + water = sugars + oxygen

3. Jan van Helmont

● Plants grew by stuff from soil?
● Weighed soil and plant
● soil= same?
● Plant? Diff
● The only factor that could have made a difference? Water
● “Hydrate in the carbohydrate”

4. Priestley
● Candle, glass jar over it, watched as flame gradually dried out
● Flame needed something in the air to keep burning → oxygen
● mint + candle → candle can be lit

5. Jan Ingehousz
● Priestley’s foundings only happened when there is light

6. Chloroplast
● In addition to light and carbon dioxide, photosynthesis requires light and
chlorophyll
● Pigments: plants gather sun energy with light absorbing molecules called
pigments

7. Light and Pigments

 ● Blue-violet and red regions of the visible spectrum: where chlorophyll absorbs
light well
● Green → does not absorb light well

Inside a chloroplast

1. Photosynthesis takes place inside a chloroplast

2. Thylakoids: saclike photosynthetic membranes

● Arranged in stacks
● Stacks are called grana

3. Proteins in the Thylakoid membrane organize chlorophyll and other pigments into
clusters → called photosystems

4. Photosystems are light collecting stems

5. Reactions of the photosystems

● Light dependent cycle
● Light independent cycle (Calvin Cycle)

6. Light dependent cycle

● takes place in the thylakoid membranes
● Light energy is converted to ATP
● Results in the splitting of water and release of oxygen

7. Electron Carriers
● Electrons gain energy when they absorb sunlight in the chlorophyll
● Cells use electron carriers to transport these high energy molecules to other
molecules
● One carrier molecules is NADP+
● NADP+ holds 2 high energy electrons along with hydrogen ion

8. NADP+
● An example of an electron carrier
● 2 high energy electrons with a hydrogen ion
● This converts NADP+ to NADPH
● This conversion is one way some of the sunlight’s energy can be trapped in
chemical form
● NADPH carries high-energy electrons to chemical reactions elsewhere in the cell
● High energy electrons are used to build carbs and glucose, which the cell need

9. Calvin cycle (Light dependent) takes place in the Stroma

 ● Uses water, ADP and NADP+
● Produces oxygen, ATP and NADPH
● Provides energy to build energy-containing sugars from low-energy compounds
● Plants use the energy that ATP and NADPH contain to build high-energy
compounds that can be stored for a long time
● Calvin cycle uses ATP and NADPH from light-dependent reactions to produce
high energy sugars

10. Working together!

● Light-dependent reactions trap sunlight energy in chemical form
● Light-independent reactions use that chemical energy to produce high energy
sugars from carbon dioxide and water

Cell respiration
1. 1 gram of sugar glucose when burned in the presence of oxygen is equal to 3811
calories of heat energy
2. Calorie is the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of 1g of water 1 degree
celcius
3. Glycolysis: (takes place in the cytoplasm) first step of cell respiration in which glucose is
broken down into 2 molecules of pyruvic acid → releases small amount of energy
● Uses 2 ATP molecules to start the reaction, produces 4 ATP molecules
● Net gain=2 atps
● NADH holds until it can be transferred to other molecules
● Advantages of glycolysis:
- Can produce thousands of ATP molecules
- Does not require oxygen
4. Krebs cycle: (mitochondria) second stage of cell respiration in which pyruvic acid is
broken down into carbon dioxide into a series of energy-extracting reactions

5. If oxygen is present, glycolysis is followed by the Krebs Cycle and electron transport
chain→ this process is called cellular respiration
6. Process that releases energy by breaking down glucose and other food molecules in the
presence of oxygen → how we get energy from food!!
7. Electron transport chain: uses high energy electrons from the Krebs cycle to converet
adp to atp.
8.