Theory of passive permeability through lipid bilayers.
Recently measured water permeability through bilayers of different lipids is most strongly correlated with the area per lipid A rather than with other structural quantities such as the thickness. This paper presents a simple three-layer theory that incorporates the area dependence in a physically realistic way and also includes the thickness as a secondary modulating parameter. The theory also includes the well-known strong correlation of permeability upon the partition coefficients of general solutes in hydrocarbon environments (Overton's rule). Two mathematical treatments of the theory are given; one model uses discrete chemical kinetics and one model uses the Nernst-Planck continuum equation. The theory is fit to the recent experiments on water permeability in the accompanying paper.
Nagle
John F
JF
Department of Physics, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA. nagle@cmu.edu
Mathai
John C
JC
Zeidel
Mark L
ML
Tristram-Nagle
Stephanie
S
D002463:Cell Membrane Permeability; D008051:Lipid Bilayers / Q000737:chemistry; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D008954:Models, Biological; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D010539:Permeability; D010713:Phosphatidylcholines / Q000032:analysis; D014867:Water
D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D010713:Phosphatidylcholines; D014867:Water