Fatty Acid/Phospholipid Blended Membranes: A Potential Intermediate State in Protocellular Evolution.

ABSTRACT: Prior to the evolution of membrane proteins, intrinsic membrane stability and permeability to polar solutes are essential features of a primitive cell membrane. These features are difficult to achieve simultaneously in model protocells made of either pure fatty acid or phospholipid membranes, raising the intriguing question of how the transition from fatty acid to phospholipid membranes might have occurred while continuously supporting encapsulated reactions required for genomic replication. Here, the properties of a blended membrane system composed of both oleic acid (OA), a monoacyl fatty acid, and 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC), a diacyl phospholipid are described. This hybrid vesicle system exhibits high stability to divalent cations (Mg²⁺ ), while s

SUBMITTER: Jin L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6278924 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature