Membrane lipid phase behavior and lipid-protein interactions.

Abstract

One of the most distinguishing features of nearly all biological membranes is that they contain a highly complex assortment of polar lipids. Only a few major lipid classes can be recognized but there is a whole spectrum of molecular species within each of these major lipid classes which differ in the type, length, and number of unsaturated residues of their hydrophobic component. There is a general consensus, based on observations that have been obtained by a variety of biophysical methods, that the lipid constituents of all biological membranes are arranged in a bilayer configuration in which the polar groups are located on the outside, in contact with the aqueous medium, and the hydrocarbon substituents are oriented toward the interior to form a hydrophobic domain that excludes water. It has been argued on the basis of the hydrophilic to hydrophobic balance within the molecules that membrane lipids have a relatively low critical micellar concentration and a discrete distribution of domains within the molecule and this is responsible for creating a stable bilayer structure.KeywordsAcyl ChainHydrocarbon ChainAcyl Chain LengthBilayer PhaseLateral Phase SeparationThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.