The combined and separate effects of low temperature and freezing on membrane lipid mesomorphic phase behavior: relevance to cryobiology.
Time-resolved X-ray diffraction is used to demonstrate that for certain lipids low temperature alone may not be sufficient to bring about changes in mesomorphic phase state. However, when combined with slow freezing of the aqueous substrate, the fluid bilayer phase is destabilized as a result of dehydration, and thus more prone to undergoing deleterious thermotropic phase transformations. The cryobiological relevance of these results is discussed.
D005615:Freezing; D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D008563:Membrane Lipids; D008954:Models, Biological; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D008563:Membrane Lipids