Reading Guide: Pratt and Cornely, Chapter 8
1. Draw the structure of a saturated fatty acid at physiological pH. Draw an omega-3 fatty acid
with 16 carbon atoms. Is taking omega-3 supplements beneficial?
2. Draw the structure of glycerol and a triacylglyceride. What is the physiological function of
TAG?
3. How are phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine structurally similar? How are
they similar and different than sphingomyelins?
4. What are two important functions of cholesterol?
5. Give the structural basis that accounts for the fact that the bilayer is dynamic enough for cells
to change shape, but strong enough to maintain a permanent barrier.
6. What happens at the melting point of a bilayer? Why do bilayers have different melting
points?
7. How does cholesterol help maintain bilayer fluidity over a broad range of temperatures?
8. Which is more favorable, transvers diffusion of a lipid in a bilayer, or lateral diffusion?
9. By weight, what percentage of the membrane is protein? What two basic types of proteins are
associated with the membrane?
10. Describe the structure of a trans-membrane -helix. What are its sequence requirements?
Describe the structure of a transmembrane barrel.
11. How are some proteins anchored into a membrane reversibly?
12. What is the fluid mosaic model of the membrane? How has it been refined?
13. What is a glycoprotein? Do they tend to be on the interior or exterior face of the membrane?
Explain the ABO blood-type system.