MOL 348 Lecture 1 Vocabulary

Metacognition

Thinking about your own thinking and learning (knowing how well you understand something)

Cytoplasm

Everything inside the cell membrane except the nucleus (includes cytosol and organelles)

Cytosol

The jelly-like fluid inside the cell where many chemical reactions happen.

Cell Membrane/Plasma Membrane/ Cytoplasmic Membrane (all used interchangeably)

The thin, flexible barrier around a cell that controls what enters and leaves.

Phospholipid

A type of lipid with a water-loving head and water-fearing tails; the main building block of cell membranes.

Amphiphilic

Has both hydrophobic and hydrophilic parts

Hydrophobic

Repels water

Hydrophilic

Attracts water

Lipid Bilayer

Two layers of phospholipids that make up the basic structure of the cell membrane.

Cholesterol

A lipid in animal cell membranes that helps control membrane fluidity and stability.

Fluid Mosaic Model

A model describing the membrane as flexible (fluid) with proteins floating within it like a mosaic.

Passive transport

Movement of substances across a membrane without energy, down their concentration gradient.

Active transport

Movement of substances across a membrane using energy, against their concentration gradient.

Diffusion

The natural movement of molecules from an area of high concentration to low concentration.

FRAP (fluorescence recovery after photobleaching)

A technique used to study membrane fluidity by observing how fluorescent molecules move after part of the membrane is bleached.