Question

Lipid rafts are ___________

(a) Patches of glycoproteins in the lipid bilayer

(b) Patches of cholesterol and sphingolipids in lipid bilayer

(c) Patches of only cholesterol in lipid bilayers

(d) Detached patches of proteins floating on the lipid bilayer

The question was asked at a job interview.

This is a very interesting question from Chemical Composition of Membranes in division Cellular Membranes of Cell Biology

Answer 1

Right option is (b) Patches of cholesterol and sphingolipids in lipid bilayer

Explanation: When membrane lipids are extracted from cell and used to produce artificial lipid bilayers, cholesterol and sphingolipids tend to self-assemble into microdomains highly ordered than surrounding lipid. Microdomains float within the fluid environment and are known as lipid rafts.