What is the structural model of the plasma membrane called?

Answer 1

The plasma membrane is the most thoroughly studied of all cell membranes, and it is largely through investigations of the plasma membrane that our current concepts of membrane structure have evolved. Theplasma membranes of mammalian red blood cells (erythrocytes) have been particularly useful as a model for studies of membrane structure. Mammalian red blood cells do not contain nuclei or internal membranes, so they represent a source from which pure plasma membranes can be easily isolated for biochemical analysis. Indeed, studies of the red blood cell plasma membrane provided the first evidence that biological membranes consist of lipid bilayers. In 1925, two Dutch scientists (E. Gorter and R. Grendel) extracted the membrane lipidsfrom a known number of red blood cells, corresponding to a known surface area of plasma membrane. They then determined the surface area occupied by a monolayer of the extracted lipid spread out at an air-water interface. The surface area of the lipid monolayer turned out to be twice that occupied by the erythrocyteplasma membranes, leading to the conclusion that the membranes consisted of lipid bilayers rather than monolayers