Wiktionary
n. (context cytology English) The semipermeable membrane that surrounds the cytoplasm of a cell.
WordNet
n. a thin membrane around the cytoplasm of a cell; controls passage of substances in and out of the cell [syn: cell wall, cytomembrane, plasma membrane]
Wikipedia
The cell membrane (also known as the plasma membrane or cytoplasmic membrane) is a biological membrane that separates the interior of all cells from the outside environment. The cell membrane is selectively permeable to ions and organic molecules and controls the movement of substances in and out of cells. The basic function of the cell membrane is to protect the cell from its surroundings.
It consists of the phospholipid bilayer with embedded proteins. Cell membranes are involved in a variety of cellular processes such as cell adhesion, ion conductivity and cell signalling and serve as the attachment surface for several extracellular structures, including the cell wall, glycocalyx, and intracellular cytoskeleton. Cell membranes can be artificially reassembled.
Usage examples of "cell membrane".
So if one group of chicks is making more nerve cell membrane, on average, than the chicks of another group, there will be more of the injected radioactive sugar in its membranes at the end of two hours.
A thin zone of foreign tissue had formed beneath the philosopher cells, distinct from the cell membrane, a metabohcally active layer that fed on the ship's hull tissues.
Unfortunately, nothing in the structure of the molecule gives biochemists any clue as to why insulin affects the cell membrane as it does.
From this size, all I see is a small section of a cell membrane and in such a case one cell looks like another.
Among the regular domes of the rank and file of phospholipid molecules, he caught occasional glimpses of an irregular mass, which he guessed to be a protein molecule that ran through the thickness of the cell membrane.
However, given that the flower's cell composition was so similar to terrestrial cells, for example the inclusion of cellulose and lignin in the cell membrane, the third option is the least likely.
When that part of the host chromosome comes to be transcribed, the cell's protein-manufacturing machinery makes a new retrovirus, which leaves by budding off through the cell membrane.
Likewise, they cannot metabolize on their own, and they lack a cell membrane.
They play a part in holding oxygen in the cell membrane where it acts as a barrier to invading viruses and bacteria, neither of which thrive in the presence of oxygen.
In the case of HIV, it does this by infiltrating a protein embedded in a T-cell membrane.
This time the penetration was limited to the zona pellucida, sparing the oocyte's cell membrane, and instead of suction being applied, a tiny volume of fluid was introduced into what's known as the perivitelline space.
When a foreign substance penetrates the cell membrane to the clean side, it's detected.