Lipids As Drug Targets Flashcards
What does a lipid molecule look like?
Phosphate head group which is polar
Hydrophobic tails which have ester bonds.
One tail is saturated (no double bonds)
The other tail is unsaturated (has one double bond)
What is the cell membrane made out of?
Phosphoglyceride molecules
How are the phospholipids orientated in the cell membrane?
In two layers
The hydrophobic tails point to each other which forms a fatty highly hydrophobic environment
The polar head groups are placed in the inner and outer surfaces of the cell membrane
Why is the cell membrane arranged in this way?
It forms a very stable arrangement.
It allows the polar head groups to interact with the aqueous media inside and outside of the cell
The hydrophobic tails in the centre of the membrane maximise van der waals interactions
What is amophotericinB?
An anti fungal agent which is used in the treatment of athletes foot.
How does amphotericin B work?
It interacts with the lipids of the fungal cell membrane and distorts the arrangement to form an ion channel through the membrane.
This causes the fungal cell to bleed out its essential ions which disrupts its osmolarity.
This results in death of the fungal cell
Is amphotericin B active against bacteria?
No. It is active against fungi like yeast
What are core components of the structure of amphotericin B which enables it to function in this way?
Amphotericin B has a hydrophilic portion containing lots of hydroxyl groups, this will interact with the hydrophilic portion of the fungal cell membrane,
amphotericin B also has a hydrophobic carbon chain which interacts with the hydrophobic portion of the fungal cell membrane
