The variety of anisotropic motions which contribute to the mobility of components in the biological membrane
Introduction
In 1972, Singer and Nicolson (Singer and Nicolson
1972) suggested the so-called fluid mosaic model of the biological membrane (Fig.
1). This useful hypothesis explained many phenomena occurring in model and biological membranes. According to this model, membrane proteins and other membrane-embedded compounds are suspended in a two-dimensional fluid formed by phospholipids. This fluid state of membrane lipids is critical for membrane function. It allows, for example, free diffusion and equal distribution of new cell-synthesized lipids and proteins; lateral diffusion of proteins and other molecules in signaling events and other membrane reactions; membrane fusion, that is, fusion of vesicles with organelles; separation of membranes during cell division; etc.
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