title: Unraveling the mystery surrounding cholesterol's condensing effect.
abstract: The results of nearest-neighbor recognition experiments that have been carried out with exchangeable dimers derived from 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine and 1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine, in the presence of cholesterol, dihydrocholesterol, coprostanol, cholestane, cholesteryl methy ether, and sitosterol, provide strong support for a condensing mechanism in which the flexible acyl chains of the phospholipids complement, perfectly, the shape of neighboring sterols, thereby leading to a high number of hydrophobic contacts and tight packing.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18015, USA.
authors.forename: Honghua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Nobuya
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tokutake
authors.forename: Steven L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Regen
mesh_terms: D002784:Cholesterol / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D006860:Hydrogen Bonding; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D007700:Kinetics; D008051:Lipid Bilayers / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D010743:Phospholipids / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D012855:Sitosterols / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
chemical_list: D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D010743:Phospholipids; D012855:Sitosterols; C025473:gamma-sitosterol; D002784:Cholesterol