Function of Cell Membrane (Omkar Nayak)

Introduction to function of cell membrane:

Cell membrane or plasma membrane is one of the most important parts of a cell that encloses and protects the components of a cell. Cell membrane separates the interior of a cell from outside environment. It is like a covering that encloses the different organelles of the cell and the cytoplasm that contains these organelles. In brief cell membrane physically separates the contents of the cell from the outside environment. The major function of cell membrane is the same in plant cell and animal cell. The membrane is made of two layers of phospholipids and each phospholipid molecule has a head and a tail region. The head region is called hydrophilic which shows attraction towards water molecules and the tail ends are known as hydrophobic which repels water molecules. The cell membrane also contains lots of protein molecules, which are embedded in the phospholipid layer. All these constituents of the cell membrane work jointly to carry out the functions of cell mem,brane.The functions of cell membrane are described below.

Functions of membrane:

The following are the major functions of cell membrane

Protection: one of the basic functions of a cell membrane is to act like a protective outer covering for the cell. The following are some of the cell membrane functions.
Support: Cell membrane anchors the cytoskeleton or cellular 'skeleton' made of protein and contained in the cytoplasm and gives shape to the cell.
Cell membrane helps in cell adhesion: Cell membrane is responsible for attaching the cell to the extracellular matrix so that the cells group together to form tissues.

Other functions of cell membrane

Transport of materials: Cell membrane helps in the transportation of materials needed for the functioning of the cell organelles. The semi-permeable cellmembrane of the cells helps in the transferring of those nutrients and chemicals that are required for the cell functioning. Transport may be either active at the expense of cellular energy or passive, without using cellular energy.
The proteins present in the cell membrane receive signals from the outside environment and convert the signals to messages that are passed to the organelles inside the cell.
Receptor for various substances: Proteins present on cell membrane act as a receptors or sites for hormone molecules the signal which cell to start or stop metabolic activity.
Act as barrier: The cell membrane surrounds cell and physically separates the intracellular components from the extracellular environment.
Cell communication: Specific proteins embedded in the cell membrane can act as molecular signals that allow cells to communicate with each other.
Immunity: Protein receptors can function to receive signals from both the environment and other cells. Other proteins on the surface of the cell membrane serve as "markers" that identify a cell to other cells. The interaction of these markers respective receptors forms the basis of cell in the immune system.

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