Diffusion of cholesterol and its precursors in lipid membranes studied by 1H pulsed field gradient magic angle spinning NMR.

ABSTRACT: Cholesterol content is critical for membrane functional properties. We studied the influence of cholesterol and its precursors desmosterol and lanosterol on lateral diffusion of phospholipids and sterols by1H pulsed field gradients (PFG) magic angle spinning (MAS) NMR spectroscopy. The high resolution of resonances afforded by MAS NMR permitted simultaneous diffusion measurements on 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPPC) and sterols. The cholesterol diffusion mirrored the DPPC behavior, but rates were slightly higher at all cholesterol concentrations. DPPC and cholesterol diffusion rates decreased and became cholesterol concentration dependent with the onset of liquid-ordered phase formation. The activation energies of diffusion in the coexistence region of liquid-ordered/liqui

SUBMITTER: Scheidt HA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1366749 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature