Cholesterol's Aliphatic Side Chain Modulates Membrane Properties

摘要

The composition and chemical structures of membrane-forming molecules determine all essential properties of nature's most important interface. Cellular membranes are subject to a hierarchical domain organization on the meso-scopic length scale. This is triggered by preferential interactions between the major constituents of the membrane, for example, phospholipids, cholesterol (Chol), glycolipids, and membrane proteins. In particular, the attractive interactions between Chol and sphingolipids or saturated phospholipids and/or membrane proteins have been identified as the driving force for membrane domain formation.Key to the lipid phase separation phenomena is the preferential interaction of Chol with saturated lipid chains.Numerous examples of the specific interaction between Chol and saturated phospholipids or sphingomyelin have been reported. The interaction between Chol and saturated lipid chains is thought to originate from attractive van der Waals interactions between Choi's planar, fused ring system (particularly the smooth α-face) and the saturated fatty acyl chains.