Basic bio, I will rate you Is a lipid a type of fat or a fat a type of lipid? Wh

Question

Basic bio, I will rate you

Is a lipid a type of fat or a fat a type of lipid?

What is the general name of the enzyme that degrades triglycerides? What is the name of the type of reaction this enzyme catalyzes? What is the specific name of the bond that this enzyme cleaves?

In some regards, humans are much like combustion engines? How so?

How do saturated fatty acids differ from unsaturated fatty acids? Is a trans-fat a saturated fat? What is the chemical process that is utilized to convert unsaturated fats into saturated fats? Why would someone want to do this?

Can you explain how a phospholipid is structurally similar to a triglyceride? Phospholipids are amphipathic molecules. What does amphipathic mean and what unique properties do amphipathic molecules have? How does a micelle differ from a lipid bilayer membrane?

Phospholipids are the primary active ingredients in laundry detergent. How do phospholipids work to remove dirt and grime from clothes?

HDL and LDL are often erroneously referred to as “good” and “bad” cholesterol, respectively. What does a physician actually mean when they say that HDL is “good cholesterol”

Explanation / Answer

Answers:

1. The difference between fats and lipids is that fats are a subset of lipids.

2. a. Lipase is the general name of the enzyme that degrades triglycerides.

b. Lipase catalyzes the hydrolysis of fats (lipids).

c. They hydrolyse ester linkages of triglycerides.

3. Humans have internal combustion engines that can run on vegetable oil, and convert the energy into mechanical force, expelling CO2.

4. a. Saturated fats are solid at room temperature, while unsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature. This is because saturated and unsaturated fats differ in their chemical structures. Saturated fats have no double bond between molecules, which means there are no gaps and the fat is saturated with hydrogen molecules.

b. Trans fat is a type of unsaturated fat that is not common in nature but can be produced when vegetable fats are hydrogenated through chemical reactions to become saturated fats.

c. During hydrogenation, vegetable oils are hardened by reacting them with hydrogen gas at about 60ºC. A nickel catalyst is used to speed up the reaction. The double bonds are converted to single bonds by the hydrogenation. In this way unsaturated fats can be made into saturated fats.

d. Vegetable oils are commonly referred to as polyunsaturated. Vegetable oils may be converted from liquids to solids by the hydrogenation reaction. Margarines and shortenings are "hardened" in this way to make them solid or semi-solids.

5. a. Phospholipids are similar to triglycerides in that they both contain glycerol and fatty acids.

b. A phospholipid is an amphipathic molecule which means it has both a hydrophobic and a hydrophilic component.

Unique properties:

When the phospholipids in an aqueous environment like cytoplasm reach a critical concentration, they associate into aggregates that are more stable in an aqueous environment than are the individual lipids. These aggregates, or micelles, can assume several forms, but they all have two features in common: The polar heads of the phospholipids project into the aqueous environment, and the hydrophobic regions or tails are oriented away from water.

At low lipid concentrations the micelles are spherical; at higher concentrations, the micelles aggregate to form an extended, two-dimensional sheet called a bilayer.

c. A lipid bilayer such as a liposomes are composed of a two lipid layers separating an aqueous internal compartment from the bulk aqueous phase.

Micelles are closed lipid monolayers with a fatty acid core and polar surface, or polar core with fatty acids on the surface (inverted micelle).

6. The hydrophobic tail attaches itself to grime and dirt, while the hydrophilic head gets affixed to water molecules. Therefore, when the dirty clothes are put inside a washing machine or swished vigorously by hand, dirt is pulled away from the cloth and washed away in the water.

7. HDL cholesterol absorbs cholesterol and carries it back to the liver, which flushes it from the body. HDL is called “good” cholesterol by a physician because having high levels can reduce the risk for heart disease and stroke.

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