STRUCTURE OF THE CELL MEMBRANE

PHOSPHOLIPIDS 1

Lipids consist of a single glycerol molecule linked to a maximum of 3 fatty acid chains.
A lipid molecule can be represented as shown in the diagram.

In phospholipids, one of the fatty acid chains is replaced by a phosphate group. An important difference is that the phosphate arranges itself on the opposite side of the glycerol to the fatty acid chains