Question

A lipid raft is typically 70 nm in diameter, and each lipid molecule has a diameter of 0.5 nm. Assume there are 50 lipid molecules per protein molecule. How many proteins would be in a typical raft? (Neglect the loss of lipid from the raft that would be required to accommodate the protein.)

1) About 760
2) About 380
3) About 1500
4) About 3100

Answer 1

There would be about 55,198 proteins in a typical lipid raft.

Step-by-step explanation:

To determine the number of proteins in a lipid raft, we need to calculate the volume of the lipid raft and the volume of a single protein molecule. The volume of a sphere can be calculated using the formula V = (4/3) * π * r^3, where r is the radius. For a lipid raft with a diameter of 70 nm, the radius is 35 nm (70 nm / 2).

The volume of the lipid raft is therefore V = (4/3) * 3.14 * (35 nm)^3 = 179,194 nm^3.

The volume of a protein molecule with a diameter of 0.5 nm is V = (4/3) * 3.14 * (0.25 nm)^3 = 0.065 nm^3.

Now, we can divide the volume of the lipid raft by the volume of a single protein molecule: 179,194 nm^3 / 0.065 nm^3 = 2,759,906.

However, there are 50 lipid molecules per protein molecule, so we need to divide our result by 50: 2,759,906 / 50 = 55,198.

Therefore, there would be about 55,198 proteins in a typical lipid raft.