Membrane Fluidity | Bio | Video Textbooks - Preview

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The diversity of components associated with the plasma membrane, along with its ability to adapt to change, help to maintain the membrane's dynamic fluidity. For example, one of the major components, phospholipids, can exist in either saturated forms, containing the maximum number of hydrogens and no double bonds, or unsaturated forms, which have at least one double bond. When the temperature drops, saturated phospholipids, with their long, straight, fatty acid chains, can pull closer together than the unsaturated ones, which have a kink in their chains due to the double bonds.