Question 6. You and your G-protein coupled receptors. You have encountered G-pro

Question

Question 6. You and your G-protein coupled receptors. You have encountered G-protein coupled receptors in Intro Bio I lecture (or soon will), and will encounter them briefly again in Intro Bio II. You will spend 2 or 3 lectures or them in Cell Bio. They are integral (transmembrane) proteins embedded in the plasma membrane of every eukaryotic cell in your body. We will treat them as being 50 Angstroms in diameter. Considering the plasma membrane scaled up to the 4 inch baseline of the worked example in the lab powerpoint, how large would the G-protein coupled receptor be? Can you give a example of a familiar object that would be o about this size?

Explanation / Answer

Actual thickness of plasma membrane = 10 nm or 10 x 10-9 m (1nm = 10-9 m)

Actual diameter of G protein = 50 angstorms or 50 x 10-10 m (1 angstrom = 10-10m)

So, on comparing thickness of plasma membrane with diameter of G protein= 10 x 10-9 m / 50 x 10-10 m i.e. 2 times

thickness of plasma membrane is twice the diameter of G protein

On new scale thickness of plasma membrane is 4 inch. so, diameter of G protein would be half i.e 2 inches.

Familiar substances of 2 inch diameter are

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