Membranes practice Flashcards
(102 cards)
say the approximate % proteins and % lipids in the following membrane types:
Also say how this affects functional complexity (increases or reduces)
- Thylakoid
- Inner mitochondrial membrane
- Inner membrane of chloroplasts
- Outer membrane of mitochondria
- Outer membrane of chloroplasts
- Plasma membrane of bacteria
- Outer membrane of bacteria
Reduced protein/lipid ratio –> reduced functional complexity
- Label the numbered structures (5P)

- 1 – Bi-molecular lipid layer
- 2 – polar heads of lipid molecules
- 3 – non-polar tails of phospholipid molecules
- 4 – Carbohydrate of glycocalyx
- 5 – Peripheral protein
- 6 – glycoprotein
- 7 – Integral protein
- 8 – glycolipid
- 9 – Cholesterol
- 10 – Outward facing layer of phospholipids

Name the 3 major classes of membrane lipids
- Phospholipids
- Glycolipids
- Sterols

How do sterols affect the physical and chemical properties of phospholipid bilayers?
- Reducing lateral mobility
- Influencing fluidity and permeability
- Alter the length of the hydrophobic core
Why haydocarbon chains with kinks lower Tm?
- Kinks in hydrocarbon chains will weaken van-der-waals forces between lipid molecules.
Which Glycerophospholipid dominates in bacteria and is 45% of lipid content in brain and nerves?
- Phosphatidylethanolamine (PE)
Which Glycerophospholipid is:
- enriched in the brain and retina,
- low in mitochondiral inner membrane
- highly enriched in inner leaflet of plasma membrane
- Serves as a signal for apoptosis
- Phosphatidylserine (PS)
Which glycerophospholipid:
- is 20% of bacterial membrane
- is Only major phospholipid in thylakoids of chloroplast
- is Synthesized in mitochondria and functions as precursor for cardiolipin (in inner mitochondrial membrane).
- Phosphatidylglycerol (PG)
Which glycerophospholipid is:
- Mostly found in inner mitochondrial membrane of animals and plants – constitutes 20% of total lipid content (also in thylakoids of plants)
- Also found in cell membrane of most bacteria; archaea contain analog of cardiolipin.
- Only eukaryotic lipid synthesized in mitochondria (supports endosymbiosis theory)
- Essential component of several complexes of the respiratory chain
- Additional roles in apoptosis
- Based on two DAGs
- Cardiolipin (based on two diacylglycerols (DAGs)
Which Glycerophospholipid is:
- Major component of Lecithin, isolated from egg yolk
- 17-40% in plasma membrane of eukaryotes (enriched in ER and tonoplast)
- Levels decrease in cell as we age
- Phosphatidylcholine (PC)
Which glycerophospholipid is:
- Minor component on the cytosolic side of eukaryotic cell membranes
- Can be phosphorylated by various kinases (PIP1, PIP2,PIP3)
- Important in lipid signaling, cell signaling and membrane trafficking
- Increases affinity of membranes for peripheral membrane proteins
- Sorting protein cargo
- Docking and fusion of transport vesicles
- –> controls direction of membrane trafficking
- Increases affinity of membranes for peripheral membrane proteins
- Phosphatidylinositol (PI)
Which sphingolipid is:
- Found especially in myelin sheath around nerve cell axons
- Head group is either choline** or **ethanolamine
- Has a role in apoptosis
- Sphingomyelin
Which sphingolipid is:
- Important in animal muscle and nerve cell membranes
*
- Cerebroside
what is Gaucher Disease and which lipid is important with it?
- Cerebroside sphingolipid
- autosomal recessive inherited disorder:
- mutation in glucocerebroside (degradation of cerebrosides) lipid builds up in the liver, spleen, bone marrow, and nervous system.
Which sphingolipid is:
- Found mainly in nervous system
- Oligosaccharides located on the extracellular surface
- Negatively charged –> alteration of electrical effects over membrane
- Participate in cell-cell recognition, adhesion, and signal transduction.
- Ganglioside
which two glyceroglycoplipids are:
- Most prominent in thylakoid membranes of photosynthetic organisms
- Conserved from cyanobacteria to plants
- Ratio is crucial for the stabilization of the membrane bilayer
- Monogalactosyldiaglycerol (MGDG) & Digalactosyldiaglycerol (DGDG)
- MGDG: Monosaccharide = galactose
- DGDG: Disaccharide = Diagalactose
- Most prominent in thylakoid membranes of photosynthetic organisms
- Conserved from cyanobacteria to plants
- Ratio of MGDG to DGDG is crucial for the stabilization of the membrane bilayer
*
How is phosphate released under phosphate limiting conditions?
- Phospholipids are partially replaced by galactolipids under phosphate-limiting conditions.
- This releases phosphate, allowing it to be used for other essential cellular processes.
Which glyceroglycolipid is:
- Anionic lipid present in thylakoid membranes (least prevalent)
- Dispensable under normal growth conditions but important in certain environments, particularly phosphate depleted conditions.
- Sulfonic acid linkage on the galactose moiety (sulfonic acid is linked to the galactose molecule).
- Sulfoquinovosyl diacylglycerides (SQDG)
Which sterols (or similar molecules) are found in which organisms
- Cholesterol (animals)
- Ergosterol (yeast)
- Hopanoid (bacteria)
- Stigmasterol (plants)
- Sistosterol (plants)
- Sterols not found in archaea

Why is Acetyl-CoA suitable to build fatty acids? (reason that this molecule is good for this)
- Fatty acids built by linking C2 moieties.
- This is the reason that most naturally occurring fatty acids have an even number of carbons.

Synthesis of fatty acid based lipids in animals, yeast and plants
which organelles are different things are synthesized in
-
Animals:
- Mitochondria: Synthesis of cardiolipin
- Cytosol: Fatty acid biosynthesis (eukaryotes)
- ER: Fatty acid elongation and lipid synthesis
-
Plants:
- Mitochondria: Synthesis of cardiolipin
- Plastid: Malonyl-CoA synthesis and fatty acid synthesis (prkaryotes)
- Cytosol: Malonyl-CoA synthesis for fatty acid elongation (Eukaryotes)
- ER: Fatty acid elongation and lipid synthesis
Where in the cell is acetyl-CoA synthesized?
Name 3 Organelles, and draw basic pathway for each
- Mitochondrion
- Plastid
- Peroxisome
- Cytosol

Name 4 functions of Acetyl-CoA
- Syntehsis of amino acids, other metabolites
- Acetylation of cytoplasmic proteins
- Histone Acetylation
- Long-Chain fatty acid biosynthesis
How is acetyl-CoA transported to the cytosol from the mitochondria and back?
- Out of mitochondrion:
- Is converted to citrate in mitochondria
- transported to cytoplasm
- Back to mitochondrion:
- Pyruvate is transported into mitochondria
- Pyruvate converted to Acetyl-CoA







