Encyclopedia > Biological membrane

  Article Content

Biological membrane

In medicine, microbiology, cell physiology, and biochemistry, a membrane is a lipid bilayer, typically embedded with proteins, which acts as a barrier within or around a cell.

Such membranes typically define enclosed spaces or compartments, in which cells may maintain a chemical or biochemical environment that differs from the outside. For example, the membrane around peroxisomes shields the rest of the cell from peroxides, and the plasma membrane separates a cell from its surrounding medium. Most organelles are defined by such membranes.

More at cell membrane.



All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

 
  Search Encyclopedia

Search over one million articles, find something about almost anything!
 
 
  
  Featured Article
Islip Terrace, New York

... average density of 485.1/km² (1,260.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the town is 95.82% White, 0.50% African American, 0.04% Native American, 1.49% Asian, 0.00% ...

 
 
 
This page was created in 25.8 ms