Lipid classification and cell membrane structure and transport concepts tested on the MCAT.
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- What is a fatty acid?
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A carboxylic acid with a long hydrocarbon tail.- What distinguishes a saturated fatty acid from an unsaturated one?
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A saturated fatty acid has no carbon-carbon double bonds; an unsaturated one has at least one.- Why do unsaturated fatty acids typically have a lower melting point than saturated ones?
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Double bonds create kinks that prevent the tails from packing tightly together.- What are the two essential fatty acids the human body cannot synthesize?
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Linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid.- In an omega-3 fatty acid, where is the first double bond located?
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At the third carbon counting from the methyl (omega) end.- What three components make up a triacylglycerol?
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One glycerol molecule joined to three fatty acids.- What type of chemical bond links fatty acids to glycerol in a triglyceride?
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An ester bond.- What is the main biological role of triacylglycerols?
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Long term energy storage.- What does the term amphipathic mean for a membrane lipid?
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It has both a hydrophilic (polar) region and a hydrophobic (nonpolar) region.- What are the four main components of a glycerophospholipid?
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A glycerol backbone, two fatty acid tails, a phosphate group, and a polar head group.- Which part of a phospholipid faces the aqueous environment in a bilayer?
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The polar phosphate head group.- What backbone do sphingolipids use instead of glycerol?
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Sphingosine, an amino alcohol.- What is sphingomyelin?
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A sphingolipid with a phosphocholine head group, abundant in myelin sheaths.- What is a glycolipid?
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A lipid with an attached sugar group, found on the outer leaflet of the plasma membrane and involved in cell recognition.- What distinguishes a ganglioside from a cerebroside?
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A ganglioside has a complex oligosaccharide head containing sialic acid; a cerebroside has a single simple sugar.
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