What does phospholipase C do?

Question

What does phospholipase C do?

it activates RAF, a protein kinase, which initiates a phosphorylation cascade

it cleaves phospholipids into IP3 and DAG, which are both second messengers

it creates cAMP, which is a second messenger

it goes into the nucleus and activates transcription.

Answer 1

Answer:

It cleaves phospholipids into IP3 and DAG, which are both second messengers.

How to exclude other answers:

Without knowing specifically what phospholipase C is, one can gain a general insight of its functions by referring to the clever classfication of enzymes. We can assume it is an enzyme due to its suffix of "-ase." From there, we can tell this enzyme likely interacts in some way with phospholipids given the containing "phospholip-." By attempting this thought process, you may be able to eliminate all other options and choose the correct answer, without ever hearing the word phospholipase C before.

Explanation:

For further information, there are several types of phospholipase enzymes. They all interact with phospholipids in various ways, typically cleaving a specific region, based on the corresponding type of phospholipase. In terms of phospholipase C, it cleaves at the site of the glycosidic-phosphate bond. As a result of this hydrolysis reaction, two new molecules are formed, DAG (diacylglycerol) and IP3 (inositol triphosphate). DAG and particularly IP3 are both important secondary messengers.