Membrane Protein - Function

Function

Biological membranes consist of a phospholipid bilayer and a variety of proteins that accomplish vital biological functions.

  • Structural proteins are attached to microfilaments in the cytoskeleton which ensures stability of the cell.
  • Cell adhesion molecules allow cells to identify each other and interact. Such proteins are involved in immune response, for example.
  • Membrane enzymes produce a variety of substances essential for cell function.
  • Membrane receptor proteins serve as connection between the cell's internal and external environments.
  • Transport proteins play an important role in the maintenance of concentrations of ions. These transport proteins come in two forms: carrier proteins and channel proteins.
  • Cell membranes are the biological membranes that separate the interior of all cells from the outside environment

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