Two problems encountered with oral or intravenous administration of drugs are
the lack of tissue specificity in the action of the drug and rapid metabolism,
and therefore limited period of effectiveness, of some drugs. One attempt to
circumvent these problems is the use of liposomes to encapsulate the drugs.
Some drugs have a longer period of effectiveness when administered this way.
Liposomes can be prepared with specific proteins to bind specific cellular
membrane receptors. Liposomes are also useful as a research tool to study the
properties of biological membranes since they have a similar structure and
properties. Much of our understanding of biological membranes has been
obtained using liposomes.
Which of the following statements concerning membranes is correct?
A. Microdomains, called lipid rafts, are fixed in position in membranes.
B. Lipid composition of the two layers of the membrane equilibrate.
C. As demonstrated with liposomes, the membrane is most fluid at the surfaces.
D. An increase in the cholesterol content of a membrane increases membrane
fluidity.
E. Lipid transporters catalyze unidirectional movement of specific lipids from
one layer to the other.