Suppose that you fuse a mouse cell and a human cell, and then treat the cell with specific antibodies covalently linked to fluorescent dyes (antibodies linked to mouse proteins are green; antibodies linked to human proteins are red). Forty minutes later, you look at the fused cell. Which of the following will you observe?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Forty minutes after the fusion of a mouse and a human cell, the proteins from both cells will have had enough time to mix and distribute across the membrane of the hybrid cell. This mixing is facilitated by the fluid nature of the cell membrane, allowing proteins to move laterally. Therefore, the antibodies linked to mouse proteins (green) and those linked to human proteins (red) will be uniformly distributed, resulting in a uniform coloration across the entire membrane.

Suppose That You Fuse a Mouse Cell and a Human