Fosfolipidimein

Fosfolipidimein is a nonstandard term occasionally encountered in discussions of membrane biology. In mainstream biochemistry the term phospholipid membrane or phospholipid bilayer is used to describe the structure formed by amphipathic phospholipid molecules that enclose cells and organelles. The usage fosfolipidimein may arise from transliteration differences or misnomers in non-specialist literature.

A phospholipid bilayer consists of phospholipids with hydrophilic head groups and hydrophobic tails. In an aqueous environment they arrange into a bilayer, with tails facing inward and heads facing outward. The bilayer forms a hydrophobic core that acts as a barrier to most polar molecules. In animal membranes cholesterol modulates fluidity and stability; membrane proteins, both integral and peripheral, reside within or on the surface.

Properties of the membrane include fluidity, allowing lateral diffusion of lipids and proteins; it is semipermeable and selectively permeable to certain substances. Phase behavior depends on temperature and lipid composition, and lipid rafts—ordered microdomains rich in cholesterol and sphingolipids—organize signaling components.

Biosynthesis and assembly involve phospholipids synthesized mainly in the endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus. Enzymes such as acyltransferases build glycerophospholipids, and flippases help maintain asymmetric distribution of phospholipids across the bilayer during membrane biogenesis.

Function and significance: the phospholipid membrane creates boundaries for cells and organelles, regulates transport, and hosts receptors and enzymes that participate in signaling and trafficking.

Terminology note: While fosfolipidimein may appear in some texts, the standard terms are phospholipid membrane or phospholipid bilayer. This entry uses fosfolipidimein cautiously and points readers to conventional terminology.