Cell membrane and hydrophilic component of proteins

Orpheus · Post by **Orpheus** » Wed Sep 15, 2010 2:13 am

Cell membrane and hydrophilic component of proteins

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Post by Orpheus » Wed Sep 15, 2010 2:13 am

At http://library.thinkquest.org/C004535/c ... ranes.html it states that "Many of the membrane-associated proteins have hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions. The hydrophilic regions are used to help anchor the protein inside of the cell membrane."

I am new to this subject (and a senior, not doing homework) but the second sentence sounds counter-intuitive to me because the interior of the lipid membrane contains the hydrophobic tails of the lipids. So why - or how could they - would "membrane-associated proteins" utilize "hydrophilic regions" to anchor themselves in a hydrophobic environment?

Orpheus · Post by **Orpheus** » Wed Sep 15, 2010 10:14 pm

Re: Cell membrane and hydrophilic component of proteins

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Post by Orpheus » Wed Sep 15, 2010 10:14 pm

I found my answer here:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bookshelf/b ... 1890#A1891

I'll refrain from cutting and pasting to honor the likely limited permissions...