Plasma membrane or Cell membrane is the thin membrane that surrounds every living Cell, delimiting the cell from the environment around it. It composed primarily of fatty-acid-based lipids and proteins. Membrane lipids are principally of two types, phospholipids and sterols.

In animals, the plasma membrane is the outer boundary of the cell, while in plants and prokaryotes it is usually covered by a cell wall. This membrane serves to separate and protect a cell from its surrounding environment and is made mostly from a double layer of phospholipids, which are amphiphilic. Hence, the layer is called a phospholipid bilayer, or sometimes a fluid mosaic membrane.

The membrane is semi-permeable, and selectively permeable, in that it can either let a substance (molecule or ion) pass through freely, pass through to a limited extent or not pass through at all. Cell surface membranes also contain receptor proteins that allow cells to detect external signaling molecules such as hormones.

More about Cell Membrane

1. Cell Membrane is made up of
2. Cell Membrane Structure
3. Functions of Cell Membrane
4. Cell Membrane is present in
5. Most important Characteristics of Cell Membrane
6. Importance of the Cell Membrane
7. Cell Membrane contains
8. Cell Membrane Vs Cell Wall
9. Cell Membrane Vs Plasma Membrane
10. Physical Structure of Cell Membrane Vs Physical Structure of Cell wall
11. Cell Membrane in Animal Cell
12. Cell Membrane Biogenesis
13. Cell Membrane bound Organelles
14. Cell Membrane less Organelles
15. Cell Membrane Biochemistry
16. Cell Membrane Bilayer Structure
17. Carbohydrates in the Cell membrane
18. Graphic of Fluid Mosaic Model for Cell Membrane
19. Cell membrane referred to as the “plasma membrane”
20. Role of Proteins within the Cell membrane
21. Various types of proteins within the Cell membrane
22. Cell Membrane Multiple Choice Questions(MCQs) and Answers
23. Cell Membrane Most Important Questions and Answers