Your research team is working on the design of a new drug for the treatment of lung cancer. To be most effective, this drug must specifically enter the cytoplasm of lung cells while not entering the cells of other tissues. For each of the following characteristics, identify if and how it would affect this specificity (increase or decrease); provide your reasoning. • the hydrophobicity of the drug molecule • the phospholipid composition of lung cell plasma membranes • the drug's molecular structure
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Hydrophobicity of the drug molecule: Increasing the hydrophobicity of the drug molecule would likely increase its specificity for entering the cytoplasm of lung cells. This is because the plasma membrane of lung cells is composed of phospholipids, which have Show more…
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