Effect of cholesterol in membranes. Pulsed nuclear magnetic resonance measurements of lipid lateral diffusion.
Lateral diffusion coefficients of lipids in a bilayer can be measured directly in a macroscopically aligned sample by use of a pulsed NMR method with pulsed magnetic field gradients [Lindblom, G., & Wennerström, H. (1977) Biophys. Chem. 6, 167]. This technique has been utilized to investigate the influence of cholesterol on the lipid diffusion of egg yolk lecithin, palmitoyloleoyllecithin, and dioleoyllecithin. It is found that cholesterol has a very small effect on the phospholipid diffusion. On the other hand, cholesterol has a great influence on the molecular ordering in the bilayer and on the lipid phase structure. It is therefore suggested that cholesterol exerts its dominant effect on the lipid membrane stability.
D002784:Cholesterol; D004058:Diffusion; D007700:Kinetics; D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D010713:Phosphatidylcholines
D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D010713:Phosphatidylcholines; D002784:Cholesterol