• Compartmentalization
• Create gradients
• Enzyme activity
• Signal transduction
• Selective passage
Purpose
Fluid Mosaic Model
-Singer & Nicolson (1972) describe integral proteins, lateral diffusion of lipids and limited transverse diffusion
Figure 1.6 The freeze-fracture
technique reveals “bumps” in the
membrane interior.
Paradigm shift: Lipid Rafts
-Certain domains within the bilayer are not as 'fluid' and are enriched with proteins (some are anchoring), cholesterol and sphingolipids -Signaling domains