Abstract
It is usually considered that the stability of lipid bilayers results from the elastic resistance of water to the dissolution of hydrophobic compounds1,2. However, attempts to describe this unique property of water in more detail2,3 have been difficult and some authors4–7 believe that the dispersion attraction of apolar molecules (London–van der Waals forces) is the most important factor. Details of the transfer kinetics into water of apolar compounds may elucidate this. Here I describe an analysis of the kinetics of cholesterol exchange between erythrocytes and lipoproteins that makes it possible to calculate precisely the widely differing specific rate constants of cholesterol dissolution from both kinds of structures. The analysis also accounts qualitatively for the different exchange kinetics reported for homologous and heterologous dispersed systems in water.
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