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Eukaryotic Cells Research Paper

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Eukaryotic organisms have cells that contain a nucleus. Animals, plants, fungi, and protoctista all have eukaryotic cells. The eukaryotic cell has a plasma membrane as its external boundary like all other cells, but it also has a variety of membranes that divide the internal space into discrete compartments, which give them its unique feature, that enable the cell to carry out various chemical reactions or processes in separate parts of the cell, which all form part of the same system. The compartments in the cytoplasm are known as organelles.

The plasma membrane not only provides shape for a cell and encloses its content; its complex design gives it a significant property which is selective permeability. This permits some molecules and ions to pass freely through the membrane such as water, but excludes large molecules, and charged particles such as chloride ions (Cl-) and …show more content…

This flexibility is due to the lateral movement of the hydrophobic tail knowing that cholesterol is a component of animal cell membrane, making the membrane less fluid and less permeable to water soluble molecules. The dual nature of the phospholipid molecule (Amphipathic nature) helps maintain the structure of the membrane as in a bilayer. Also the attraction force between heads and those between tails help stabilize the structure.
There are different types of protein in the bilayer. Integral proteins are hydrophobic and are embedded in the bilayer, while the peripheral proteins are attached to the surface. Many proteins on the outer surface are glycoprotein-that is, they have carbohydrate groups attached to them. Some of these function as hormone binding site, others are enzymes immobilized with the active site on the outside. Finally, there are proteins that act as a channel for passive transport to allow hydrophilic particles across by facilitated

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