Cell Biology and Plasma Membrane Lecture Review

Flashcards based on the IKEA analogy for cell organelles and the Fluid Mosaic Model of the plasma membrane.

Nucleus (IKEA Analogy)

Represented as 'Sweden' where the CEO lives; it serves as the control center of the cell.

DNA (IKEA Analogy)

The 'CEO' who stays in Sweden (the nucleus) and provides the information for making products.

mRNA (IKEA Analogy)

The 'lackey' or messenger that carries information from the CEO to the people who build the products.

Protein (IKEA Analogy)

Represented as the 'trees' that are chopped down and eventually turned into furniture.

Ribosome (IKEA Analogy)

The worker who takes the mRNA information and starts 'chopping the trees down' to make protein.

Rough ER (RER) (IKEA Analogy)

The location where the 'shaving the bark off' and initial modification of the wood occurs.

Vesicle (IKEA Analogy)

The 'truck' used to pack and transport the wood or materials.

Smooth ER (SER)

Packs wood onto the truck (vesicle) and is also responsible for detoxifying drugs, especially in the liver.

Golgi Apparatus (IKEA Analogy)

The 'factory' that takes wood and makes it into finished products like tables, chairs, and drawers.

Lysosome

An example of a factory product containing hydrolytic enzymes used to break down food or materials.

Fluid Mosaic Model

The accepted model of the cell membrane where phospholipids provide fluidity and proteins form a mosaic pattern.

Phospholipids

The 'fluid' part of the cell membrane arranged in a bilayer that is flexible and bouncy.

Pliable

A term for the flexibility of the cell membrane, compared to Play-Doh, allowing it to fold and surround items.

Selectively Permeable

The property of the plasma membrane that allows it to control which substances enter or exit based on specific factors, not just size.

Cholesterol

A lipid that sits between fatty acid tails to stiffen and strengthen the phospholipid layer, similar to 'linking arms' in Red Rover.

Glycolipids and Glycoproteins

Carbohydrate chains (hexagons) attached to the membrane that act as identification markers for the body.

Integral Proteins

Proteins that are integrated or included directly into the phospholipid bilayer.

Peripheral Proteins

Proteins that are not integrated but 'chill on the side' or surface of the cell membrane to help stabilize it.

Channel/Transport Proteins

Proteins that act like a tunnel or bridge to help polar, charged, or large molecules like glucose cross the hydrophobic membrane.

Receptor Proteins

Proteins that act like a 'receptionist,' taking messages from the outside and filtering them for the nucleus.

Cytoskeleton

The internal structure that acts like an 'anchor' to keep proteins from floating too far away within the fluid membrane.

Nonpolar Molecules

Substances like oxygen and $CO_2$ that can diffuse easily through the hydrophobic area of the phospholipid layer.

Aquapores

Specific proteins that allow water to pass straight through the membrane, though the lecture notes water can also squeeze through phospholipids.

Universal Donor

Type O blood, specifically O negative, because it lacks markers and can be given to anyone in emergencies.

Universal Receptor

Type AB blood, because it possesses markers and can receive blood from A, B, AB, or O donors.