Abstract
The complex phase behavior of lipids in artificial lipid bilayer membranes and in some biological membranes has been determined through the use ofseveral physical techniques. Since changes in several important membrane functions have been correlated with certain aspects of the phase behavior of the lipids in several biological membranes, considerable interest has recently arisen in this area of membrane biology (for a review, see Phase Transitions in Model Systems and by C. F. Fox in the MTP International Review of Science Biochemistry Series, Biochemistry of Cell Walls and Membranes, C. F. Fox, editor, Butterworths, London, 1975). As a result, I thought that the Bioenergetics Subgroup ofthe Biophysical Society might also have some interest in this area andmight benefitfrom a discussion ofsome of the physical techniques usedfor the detection of the phase behavior of lipids in biological membranes. The following papers by Doctors Engelman, Papahadjopoulos and Poste, and Grant provide a briefdescription of the utility ofsome of these physical techniques for this purpose with adequate references for the interested reader.
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