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
Read more about this topic: Membrane Protein
Famous quotes containing the word function:
“It is not the function of our Government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the Government from falling into error.”
—Robert H. [Houghwout] Jackson (1892–1954)
“To look backward for a while is to refresh the eye, to restore it, and to render it the more fit for its prime function of looking forward.”
—Margaret Fairless Barber (1869–1901)
“The fact remains that the human being in early childhood learns to consider one or the other aspect of bodily function as evil, shameful, or unsafe. There is not a culture which does not use a combination of these devils to develop, by way of counterpoint, its own style of faith, pride, certainty, and initiative.”
—Erik H. Erikson (1904–1994)