Plasma Membrane Dynamics Study Guide
Guiding Question:
How is the structure of the plasma membrane related to its functions?
Membrane Structure
 Know the basic structure of a plasma membrane (lipid bilayer, fluid mosaic
model)
 Explain what is meant by selective permeability
 Relate the spontaneous formation of membranes to the structure of
phospholipids.
 Recognize that all single-membrane-bound organelles are part of the
endomembrane system (ER, vacuoles, Golgi, etc.)
 Know the various functions of a plasma membrane’s components (receptors,
channels, pumps, ID tags, etc.)
 Compare membrane proteins to enzymes (specificity)
Diffusion and Osmosis
 Know the terms concentration gradient, hypertonic, hypotonic, and isotonic
 Explain the spontaneous process of diffusion (why/how does it happen?)
 Compare simple diffusion to facilitated diffusion
 Know what types of substances can freely diffuse across a plasma membrane
 Recognize that a substance’s name or formula in brackets signifies
“concentration” of said substance. Example: high [glucose] simply means high
glucose concentration.
 Given information about a cell’s [solute] and the cell’s environment, be able to
predict the movement of water (osmosis)
 Know the role that osmosis plays in creating Turgor pressure in plant cells
Transport
 Compare passive and active transport
 Recognize the molecule “ATP” as the energy used in active transport
 Recognize different types of active transport (simple pump, exocytosis,
endocytosis)
 Compare the use of exo- and endocytosis to that of trans-membrane proteins
for active transport (in what different situations is each process useful?)