Problems http://edugen.wiley.com/edugen/courses/crs1900/rc/voet9301c09/dm9ld...

1. Does trans-oleic acid have a higher or lower melting point than cis-oleic acid? Explain.

Answer:

trans-Oleic acid has a higher melting point because, in the solid state, its hydrocarbon chains pack
together more tightly than those of cis-oleic acid.
2. How many different types of triacylglycerols could incorporate the fatty acids shown in Fig. 9-1?

Answer:

Of the 4 × 4 = 16 pairs of fatty acid residues at C1 and C3, only 10 are unique because a molecule with
different substituents at C1 and C3 is identical to the molecule with the reverse substitution order.
However, C2 may have any of the four substituents for a total of 4 × 10 = 40 different triacylglycerols.
3. Which triacylglycerol yields more energy on oxidation: one containing three residues of linolenic acid or
three residues of stearic acid?

Answer:

The triacylglycerol containing the stearic acid residues yields more energy since it is fully reduced.
4. Draw the structure of a glycerophospholipid that has a saturated C16 fatty acyl group at position 1, a
monounsaturated C18 fatty acyl group at position 2, and an ethanolamine head group.

Answer:

5. What products are obtained when 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-3-phosphatidylserine is hydrolyzed by (a)

phospholipase A1; (b) phospholipase A2; (c) phospholipase C; (d) phospholipase D?

Answer:

(a) Palmitic acid and 2-oleoyl-3-phosphatidylserine;

(b) oleic acid and 1-palmitoyl-3-phosphatidylserine;
(c) phosphoserine and 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-glycerol;
(d) serine and 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-phosphatidic acid.
6. Which of the glycerophospholipid head groups listed in Table 9-2 can form hydrogen bonds?

Answer:

All except choline can form hydrogen bonds.

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7. Does the phosphatidylglycerol “head group” of cardiolipin (Table 9-2) project out of a lipid bilayer like
other glycerophospholipid head groups?

Answer:

No; the two acyl chains of the “head group” are buried in the bilayer interior, leaving a head group of
diphosphoglycerol.
8. In some autoimmune diseases, an individual develops antibodies that recognize cell constituents such as
DNA and phospholipids. Some of the antibodies react with both DNA and phospholipids. What is the
structural basis for this cross-reactivity?

Answer:

Both DNA and phospholipids have exposed phosphate groups that are recognized by the antibodies.
9. Most hormones, such as peptide hormones, exert their effects by binding to cell-surface receptors.
However, steroid hormones do so by binding to cytosolic receptors. How is this possible?

Answer:

Steroid hormones, which are hydrophobic, can diffuse through the cell membrane to reach their receptors.
10. Animals cannot synthesize linoleic acid (a precursor of arachidonic acid) and therefore must obtain this
essential fatty acid from their diet. Explain why cultured animal cells can survive in the absence of
linoleic acid.

Answer:

Eicosanoids synthesized from arachidonic acid are necessary for intercellular communication. Cultured
cells do not need such communication and therefore do not require linoleic acid.
11. Why can't triacylglycerols be significant components of lipid bilayers?

Answer:

Triacylglycerols lack polar head groups, so they do not orient themselves in a bilayer with their acyl
chains inward and their glycerol moiety toward the surface.
12. Why would a bilayer containing only gangliosides be unstable?

Answer:

The large oligosaccharide head groups of gangliosides would prevent efficient packing of the lipids in a
bilayer.
13. When bacteria growing at 20°C are warmed to 30°C, are they more likely to synthesize membrane lipids
with (a) saturated or unsaturated fatty acids, and (b) short-chain or long-chain fatty acids? Explain.

Answer:

(a) Saturated; (b) long-chain. By increasing the proportion of saturated and long-chain fatty acids, which
have higher melting points, the bacteria can maintain constant membrane fluidity at the higher
temperature.
14. (a) How many turns of an α helix are required to span a lipid bilayer (~30 Å across)? (b) What is the
minimum number of residues required? (c) Why do most transmembrane helices contain more than the
minimum number of residues?

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Answer:

(a) (1 turn/5.4 Å)(30 Å) = 5.6 turns

(b) (3.6 residues/turn)(5.6 turns) = 20 residues
(c) The additional residues form a helix, which partially satisfies backbone hydrogen bonding
requirements, where the lipid head groups do not offer hydrogen bonding partners.
15. The distance between the Cα atoms in a β sheet is ~3.5 Å. Can a single 9-residue segment with a β
conformation serve as the transmembrane portion of an integral membrane protein?

Answer:

No. Although the β strand could span the bilayer, a single strand would be unstable because its backbone
could not form the hydrogen bonds it would form with water in aqueous solution.
16. Are the following lipid samples likely to correspond to the inner or outer leaflet of a eukaryotic plasma
membrane? (a) 20% phosphatidylcholine, 15% phosphatidylserine, 65% other lipids. (b) 35%
phosphatidylcholine, 15% gangliosides, 5% cholesterol, 45% other lipids.

Answer:

(a) Inner; (b) outer. See Fig. 9-32.

17. Describe the labeling pattern of glycophorin A when a membrane-impermeable protein-labeling reagent
is added to (a) a preparation of solubilized erythrocyte proteins; (b) intact erythrocyte ghosts; and (c)
erythrocyte ghosts that are initially leaky and then immediately sealed and transferred to a solution that
does not contain the labeling reagent.

Answer:

(a) Both the intra- and extracellular portions will be labeled. (b) Only the extracellular portion will be
labeled. (c) Only the intracellular portion will be labeled.
18. Predict the effect of a mutation in signal peptidase that narrows its specificity so that it cleaves only
between two Leu residues.

Answer:

The mutant signal peptidase would cleave many preproteins within their signal peptides, which often
contain Leu-Leu sequences. This would not affect translocation into the ER, since signal peptidase acts
after the signal peptide enters the ER lumen. Proteins lacking the Leu-Leu sequence would retain their
signal peptides. These proteins, and those with abnormally cleaved signal sequences, would be more
likely to fold abnormally and therefore function abnormally.
19. Explain why a drug that interferes with the disassembly of a SNARE complex would block
neurotransmission.

Answer:

In order for a neuron to repeatedly release neurotransmitters, the components of its exocytotic
machinery must be recycled. Following the fusion of synaptic vesicles with the plasma membrane, the
four-helix SNARE complex is disassembled so that the Q-SNAREs remain in the plasma membrane
while portions of the membrane containing R-SNAREs can be used to re-form synaptic vesicles. This
recycling process would not be possible if the R- and Q-SNAREs remained associated, and the neuron

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would eventually be unable to release neurotransmitters.

Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

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