Permeability of membranes in the liquid ordered and liquid disordered phases.

ABSTRACT: The functional significance of ordered nanodomains (or rafts) in cholesterol rich eukaryotic cell membranes has only begun to be explored. This study exploits the correspondence of cellular rafts and liquid ordered (L_o) phases of three-component lipid bilayers to examine permeability. Molecular dynamics simulations of L_o phase dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC), dioleoylphosphatidylcholine (DOPC), and cholesterol show that oxygen and water transit a leaflet through the DOPC and cholesterol rich boundaries of hexagonally packed DPPC microdomains, freely diffuse along the bilayer midplane, and escape the membrane along the boundary regions. Electron paramagnetic resonance experiments provide critical validation: the measured ratio of oxygen concentrations near the mi

SUBMITTER: Ghysels A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6901538 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature