Thickness Mismatch of Coexisting Liquid Phases in Noncanonical Lipid Bilayers.

ABSTRACT: Lipid composition dictates membrane thickness, which in turn can influence membrane protein activity. Lipid composition also determines whether a membrane demixes into coexisting liquid-crystalline phases. Previous direct measurements of demixed lipid membranes have always found a liquid-ordered phase that is thicker than the liquid-disordered phase. Here we investigated noncanonical ternary lipid mixtures designed to produce bilayers with thicker disordered phases than ordered phases. The membranes were composed of short, saturated (ordered) lipids; long, unsaturated (disordered) lipids; and cholesterol. We found that few of these systems yield coexisting liquid phases above 10 °C. For membranes that do demix into two liquid phases, we measured the thickness mismatch between the phases by

SUBMITTER: Bleecker JV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4795991 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature