Composition of Membranes
The general structure of the cytoplasmic membrane is a phospholipid bilayer. Phospholipids contain both hydrophobic (fatty acid) and hydrophilic (glycerol-phosphate) components and can be of many different chemical forms as a result of variation in the groups attached to the glycerol backbone (Figure3.4) As phospholipids aggregate in an aqueous solution, they naturally form bilayer structures, In a phospholipid membrane, the fatty acids point inward toward each other to form a hydrophobic environment, and the hydrophilic portions remain exposed to the external environment or the cytoplasm.