title: On the puzzling distribution of cholesterol in the plasma membrane.
abstract: The distribution of cholesterol between the two leaves of the plasma membrane in mammalian cells presents a conundrum; given cholesterol's known affinity for sphingomyelin, which resides predominantly in the exoplasmic leaf, why is it that experiment finds a majority of the cholesterol in the cytoplasmic leaf? This article reviews a recently proposed solution to this puzzle.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, United States.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Giang
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, United States.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schick
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001692:Biological Transport; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism*; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D002784:Cholesterol
keywords: Bending energy; Cholesterol; Phosphatidylethanolamine; Spontaneous curvature