Stoichiometry of cholesterol-sphingomyelin condensed complexes in monolayers.
Some binary mixtures of cholesterol and phospholipids in monolayers have thermodynamic phase diagrams with two upper miscibility critical points. This feature has been interpreted in terms of 'condensed complexes' between the phospholipid and cholesterol. The present work gives evidence for the formation of complexes with a common simple integral stoichiometry in binary mixtures of cholesterol and a series of five sphingomyelins where the amide-linked acyl chain length is varied. This indicates that these complexes have a distinct geometry even though they form a liquid phase.
Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, CA 94305, USA.
A
A
Radhakrishnan
X M
XM
Li
R E
RE
Brown
H M
HM
McConnell
D002784:Cholesterol / Q000737:chemistry*; D020404:Glycerophospholipids / Q000737:chemistry; D008563:Membrane Lipids / Q000737:chemistry*; D015394:Molecular Structure; D013109:Sphingomyelins / Q000737:chemistry*; D013816:Thermodynamics
D020404:Glycerophospholipids; D008563:Membrane Lipids; D013109:Sphingomyelins; D002784:Cholesterol