215k views
15 votes
What Helps to maintain the plasma membranes fluidity?

User ShanN
by
4.9k points

2 Answers

1 vote
Unsaturated fatty acids are compressed. Causing their tails to push adjacent phospholipid molecules away
User Khalid Taha
by
4.7k points
8 votes

Answer:

If unsaturated fatty acids are compressed, the “kinks” in their tails push adjacent phospholipid molecules away, which helps maintain fluidity in the membrane. The ratio of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids determines the fluidity in the membrane at cold temperatures.

User Kingkode
by
4.5k points