Question

After allowing the cell to equilibrate in solution a, you then want to see what will happen if you inactivate the amino acid transmembrane (aat) proteins by adding a small molecule inhibitor to solution

a. This inhibitor will prevent the protein from transporting amino acids across membranes.
b. cellular respiration is still able to occur and the bi-products of cellular respiration such as fats and amino acids are being generated.
c. let's assume for this problem that amino acid synthesis is occurring in the mitochondria.

Answer 1

Inhibiting amino acid transmembrane (AAT) proteins would decrease the passive transport of amino acids into the cell, which may affect protein synthesis due to lower intracellular amino acid availability.

Step-by-step explanation:

The student's question pertains to the effects of inhibiting amino acid transmembrane (AAT) proteins on amino acid transport into the cell. Normally, AAT proteins facilitate the passive transport of amino acids across the cell membrane, down a concentration gradient, in a process that does not require energy. By adding a small molecule inhibitor to the solution, the transport of amino acids into the cell would decrease, because AAT proteins would no longer be functioning to ferry amino acids into the cell. The process of protein synthesis, which involves the activation of amino acids by tRNAs and amino acids being covalently linked into polypeptides by ribosomes, could be affected due to a lower intracellular concentration of amino acids if transport across the membrane is diminished. In contrast, cellular respiration can continue to occur as it involves the degradation of biomolecules, like fats and amino acids, to produce ATP and other small molecules which can still move across the membrane.