what effect does ethanol have on cell membranes?
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Alcohol is attracted to cell membranes, and it concentrates there. When it reaches nerve cell membranes, the alcohol can change the function of nerve cells and thus affect behavior.At one time, scientists believed that alcohol "dissolved" into the membrane interior and made the carbon chains of the lipids more fluid. (It was thought to be like converting hard butter into soft margarine.) \n\nWhen scientists tested this idea on fish, they realized that the "melted butter" idea could not explain intoxication. Warming fish by a few degrees can cause the same degree of lipid "melting", but t\nhe fish do NOT get intoxicated. The answer can be answered in part from the chemistry of alcohol (CH3CHOH). The carbon part of the molecule makes it attracted to the carbon tails of the lipids in cell membranes. But the OH group of alcohol makes it attracted to water. \n\nThus, you might expect that these influences would cause alcohol to orient itself in a membrane so that the carbon part of the molecule inserts itself into the membrane interior (where the lipid carbon tails are) and the OH part of the molecule is out near the surface, where the water is. This idea has been recently confirmed by the author of Cells Are Us and his colleagues here at Texas A&M.lcohol disrupts the normal organization of the lipid carbon chains (see picture below.)   \n\nYour scientist/author of this module believes that alcohol sticks to a membrane near its surface with water. Some of the evidence that supports this idea was obtained with a simple artificial lipid membrane. Several methods demonstrate that alcohol binds just underneath the charged head group of surface lipid, displacing some of the water that is normally there. The importance of this physical disruption is not so much what it does to the lipid, but what it does to the proteins (not shown) that are embedded in the lipid. Disturbing the shape of the lipids changes the shape of the proteins, and thus changes the functions of the protein.Think about how the substitution of alcohol for water might affect the large, complex sugars and proteins that are embedded in the lipid membrane. Ask yourself:\n\nWouldn't the substitution cause proteins to change shape? \n\nIf they changed shape, could that cause them to change function? \nAlthough the lipid of a membrane has no special function of its own, it does influence the large functional molecules (proteins and sugars) that the membrane contains. This is not a good thing.\n\nChanging a protein's shape or location can change the protein's function. Some membrane proteins are affected more by alcohol than are other proteins.
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Cell walls surround the cell outside of the plasma membrane.  When water flows into the cell by osmosis, the cell swells until its membrane builds up pressure against the cell wall.  The cell wall prevents the cell from swelling and bursting in a hypotonic solution.
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Animal cells have little protection from water induced osmosis.  Leaving a cell in such an environment will surely cause the cell to absorb water until its pressure equalizes with it's surroundings.  Once the pressure reaches this critical level, the cell wall is compromised and it will burst.
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Ethanol is ethyl alcohol, the pharmacologically active part of beer.  It depends on the "proof" of the alcohol.  Pure alcohol is generally not "edible" (or drinkable) because ethanol forms an azeotrope (a mixture that cannot be separated by distillation) when it is ~95% ethanol and 5% water.  The azeotrope is broken by chemicals that are bad for humans, like benzene.
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Ethane is nonpolar.  Ethanol has a polar hydroxyl group which can form hydrogen bonds with water.
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Your body has an enzyme called "alcohol dehydrogenase" that oxidizes ethanol into acetaldehyde, and then acetaldehyde dehydrogenaise oxidizes that into acetic acid. Your body metabolizes the acetic acid into carbon dioxide, water, and fats.\n\nWhen methanol is ingested, the alcohol dehydrogenase oxidizes it into formaldehyde, which attacks the optic nerve. The problem is that, when ingested, your body doesn't know what to do with the formaldehyde, so it isn't eliminated by an enzyme.\n\nThe treatment for methanol poisoning is actually to give the patient ethanol, so as to overload the alcohol dehydrogenase with ethanol (competitive inhibition) that it cannot oxidize methanol. Methanol is then released through the kidneys.
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1. The cells (and their organelles like mitochondria) swell (because the ability of the plasma membrane to control the passage of ions and water is disrupted).\n\n2. The cell contents leak out, leading to inflammation of surrounding tissues.
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Ethanol has a low flash point (-5 C), which is the temperature at which enough vapors in the air can be present to create an explosive atmosphere; a spark or flame can cause an explosion.  It also does burn with a weakly colored flame, making it hard to see.  \nAlso - high-strength ethanol that you can by is called denatured alcohol - there are many kinds, but they are all poisoned with something - methanol, isopropanol, toluene etc. which render it undrinkable.  Don't do it.\nPunch in "MSDS" and "ethanol" into yahoo and pull up a material safety data sheet.
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Water.  Alcohol absorbs heat quickly but doesn't store it well.
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The cell membrane is a lipid bilayer made from phospholipids.  As a lipid, it is permeable to other lipids (e.g. steroid hormones) but not to polar molecules (e.g. potassium or glucose).  Polar molecules require various types of membrane proteins (e.g. potassium channels) or endocytosis (glucose) for absorption into the cell.  \n\nHope this is helpful for you.  Best wishes and good luck.
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Organelles don't have much of an effect on cell function--mostly it's its shape. More active cells are smaller than less active cells so information can quickly pass through the cytoplasm and into the nucleus. This explains why muscle cells are long, small and slender, and fat cells are large and bulky. \n\nThe membrane of smaller cells has many exterior folds to increase its surface area and ablitily to collect nutrients necessary for cell function.
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It kills brain cells but you should have more than enough extra ones that it doesnt seem to concern too many people.  When your body metabolizes the alcohol, it turns it into liver fat and over a long period of time can decrease your body's ability to filter your blood through the liver.  It also dehydrates you and this is bad if you are an athlete.  In moderation, your body can deal with most of the bad stuff.
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Alcohol is one of the top ingredients in disinfectants.
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apart from the obvious risks of liver problems etc.\nSugary alcohol can encourage yeast infections in the vagina due to all the extra sugar in it
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methanol (rubbing alcohol);\n\none carbon, attached to one oxygen, with hydrogen everywhere else\n\nethanol (drinking alcohol);\n\ntwo carbons attached, one oxygen, with hydrogen everywhere else\n\nethyl ketone (very bad variation on ethanol, which is naturally occuring)\n\ntwo carbons attached, an oxygen attached by double bond, and hydrogen (one less hydrogen) everywhere else
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The cell membrane regulates what comes in and what leaves the cell....it kind of acts like a filter!
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At low temperature such as subzero, high concentration of ethanol (100%) precipitates proteins especially high molecular weight protein complexes.  This is the rationale for fixation of cellular structures for immunostaining with most proteins retained in a relatively native state.  \n\nAt room temperature, the effect of ethanol on precipitation of protein is less efficient and soluble proteins may be denatured by the unfolding of the polypeptide such that it is thermodynamically more stable in ethanol.