Phospholipid Structural Features Influence Lateral Diffusion

Abstract

Rapid lateral diffusion of lipids in bilayers is a critical property for function of biological membranes. A systematic study of diffusion as a function of lipid structure in well-defined synthetic bilayers is necessary for the confident interpretation of results on lipid diffusion in natural membranes and cells. Over the past 15 years, a large data set of lipid diffusion rates was accumulated in our lab by pulsed field gradient (PFG) NMR in combination with magic-angle spinning (MAS). The advantage of PFG NMR experiments versus other methods is that NMR reports the diffusion of all matrix lipids, not the diffusion of a low concentration of probe molecules whose behavior does not necessarily reflect that of matrix lipids.