How to Use cell membrane in a Sentence

cell membrane

noun
Definition of cell membranenext
  • Next, the sperm cell has to pick up speed to be able to fuse with the egg cell, and the sperm's cell membrane has to become more fluid.
    — Carla Bleiker, USA TODAY, 12 Apr. 2018
  • Lipid bilayers, made up of two sheets of fat cells, form the cell membrane.
    — Courtney Linder, Popular Mechanics, 7 Nov. 2019
  • Along with GenX, the plant also makes Nafion, used in fuel-cell membranes.
    — Ken Otterbourg, Fortune, 24 May 2018
  • Instead, the complex of virus and receptors stays on the outside of the cell membrane.
    — John Timmer, Ars Technica, 20 Mar. 2020
  • One class of molecules in the cell membrane are called ion channels.
    — Gabriel A. Silva, Forbes, 2 Aug. 2022
  • Think about a cell membrane, where water and other things pass through freely, but all the cell’s guts are kept inside.
    — Caroline Delbert, Popular Mechanics, 13 Dec. 2019
  • Membrane proteins are found on the cell membrane and play a variety of roles.
    — Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 15 Dec. 2022
  • The less water around, the less chance for precious cell membrane damage and the greater likelihood the plant will survive.
    — Paul Cappiello, The Courier-Journal, 15 Nov. 2019
  • Zinc is required for cell membrane repair, cell growth, and the maintenance of healthy skin.
    — Cynthia Sass, Rd, Health.com, 24 June 2020
  • The elongating filaments push on the tight cell membrane, producing a bump that gives the actin chains room to grow even more, and bind more VASP.
    — Adam Mann, Discover Magazine, 25 Mar. 2020
  • Nerve cells have tiny pores in their cell membranes that regulate the flow of sodium ions into the cell, which in turn modulates the firing of the cell.
    — Karen Weintraub, Scientific American, 1 June 2017
  • The element is a fundamental part of DNA and is present in the bones of mammals, cell membranes and ocean-dwelling plankton.
    — Simrin Singh, CBS News, 14 June 2023
  • Understanding why plants stress out in droughts, says Dunning, has to do with the way ions travel across a cell membrane.
    — April Glaser, Slate Magazine, 18 Sep. 2017
  • These cell membrane lipids are a new target for cancer drugs, said the study, performed in human cancer cells and whole mice.
    — San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 July 2019
  • The parasites infect and destroy red blood cells by forcing their cell membrane to break open.
    — Jocelyn Solis-Moreira, Popular Science, 27 Mar. 2023
  • Chloride channels are gatekeepers that sit in the cell membrane and usher chloride, an electrolyte, in and out of cells.
    — Katie Hafner, Scientific American, 11 Nov. 2021
  • Defensins can kill cells by inserting themselves into the cell membrane to create holes in the membrane.
    — William A. Haseltine, Forbes, 26 Mar. 2022
  • In a 2010 study, zinc coupled with an ionophore (a chemical that transports an ion across a cell membrane) was found to inhibit the replication of SARS.
    — Allysia Finley, WSJ, 5 Oct. 2020
  • But the debate is far from resolved; researchers are still not sure exactly how the anesthesia affects the cell membranes.
    — Jason Daley, Smithsonian, 7 Feb. 2018
  • The protein normally sits inactive in the cell membranes of the tissue that makes up the lining of lymphatic vessels.
    — Eva Frederick, Science | AAAS, 13 Dec. 2019
  • Two proteins that exclude each other activate on the cell membrane at opposite ends of the cell, so that where one is present, the other can’t diffuse.
    — Quanta Magazine, 12 Aug. 2019
  • One of these signature structures is lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a long chain of sugars anchored to the cell membrane of many types of bacteria.
    — Stephanie Melchor, Scientific American, 29 Mar. 2021
  • In fact, the pores in the cell membrane get so large that the speck conformation of the adapter protein can leave as well, along with other key particles necessary for cell survival.
    — William A. Haseltine, Forbes, 1 July 2022
  • Nasulin has been shown to protect cell membranes from damage, and is linked to better brain health, reduced risk of cancer, and healthier joints.
    — Molly Kimball, cleveland.com, 13 Sep. 2017
  • Their cell membranes, for example, are made up of two different kinds of fatty molecules, known as lipids.
    — Prachi Patel, Scientific American, 13 July 2018
  • Since the presence of a cell membrane is indicative of eukaryotes, and fat molecules tend to persist in rock, sterols have become the go-to molecular fossil for the group.
    — Yasemin Saplakoglu, Quanta Magazine, 23 Oct. 2023
  • In the presence of bacteria like E. coli, copper releases reactive ions that punch holes in the cell membrane, invade, and then shred the DNA and proteins within.
    — Andrew Zaleski, STAT, 24 Sep. 2020
  • Once your body reaches a hundred and five or a hundred and six degrees, your limbs might convulse, and, at a hundred and seven, your cell membranes melt, and proteins inside the cells unfold.
    — Carolyn Kormann, The New Yorker, 6 Sep. 2023
  • When nematodes touch the mushrooms, these structures release their gas, disrupting the worms' cell membranes to cause paralysis and death.
    — Susan Cosier, Scientific American, 27 Mar. 2023
  • In this image the normal lipid (fat) deposits of the cells (their major component) have been removed, revealing the honeycomb structure of the cell membranes.
    — Doug Criss, CNN, 28 Mar. 2018

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cell membrane.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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