Answer to Question #83581 in Biology for Richie Guchie

Question

Which category of amino acids would you expect to find on the sirface of a soluble protein and which would you expect to find in the interio. What distribution would you expect to find on a protein embedded in a lipid bilayer

Answer 1

Amino acids with polar side chains (i.e., serine, threonine, asparagine, glutamine, histidine, etc.) will be located on the surface of a soluble protein whereas amino acids with non-polar side chains (i.e., valine, leucine, isoleucine, alanine, proline, phenylalanine, tryptophan, etc.) will be located inside the protein. In contrast, non-polar (hydrophobic) amino acids will be found on the surface of the protein embedded in a lipid bilayer whereas polar side chains will be located inside a protein avoiding interactions with a hydrophobic surface.