Membrane Interior

last updated by

LunarStrain 17 years, 2 months ago

3 voices

4 replies

Author
Posts
- October 22, 2007 at 2:14 am #8424
  LunarStrain
  Participant
  Is there fluid (water) within the hydrophobic interior?
  Im having a little trouble understanding my text book. 😕
  If the tails of the phospholipids are hydrophobic then there should be water within the chains. But then I read that the phospholipid bilayer is fluid. Why? Im not sure but is it because of the kinks formed by the unsaturated fatty acid tails, they cause a break in the close alignment of the hydrophobic interior, does this allow a small amount of water in?
  Does temperature have an effect on the alignment of the fatty acids, causing an increase or decrease in fluidity?
  If someone could help me out with this…
  Thanks
- October 22, 2007 at 3:31 am #77095
  mith
  Participant
  If it’s hydrophobic, there should not be water! Look at the definition of hydrophobic. Fluid means its in a liquid state, it has nothing to do with water. By definition a liquid is a state where molecules can slide over each other(think sand).
- October 22, 2007 at 5:52 am #77100
  MrMistery
  Participant
  Is sand a liquid? i don’t think so.
  Incidentaly, yes, a higher temperature causes fluidity of the membrane to increase.
  My advice to you is try to read those inctroductory chapters noody reads that reveal the chemistry necessary in order to understand cellular biology
- October 22, 2007 at 4:09 pm #77113
  mith
  Participant
  Sand is not a liquid but I think molecularly you can imagine it like that. Let me put it this way, sand flows and can take shape of its container.
- October 23, 2007 at 6:54 am #77129
  LunarStrain
  Participant
  Oh I see, lol 😳 that was kind of a stupid question
  sand isn’t water, why would it be water
  sorry but thanks
Author
Posts

You must be logged in to reply to this topic.

Related posts:

Members