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Journal ArticleDOI

A structural model for the cholesterol-phosphatidylcholine complexes in bilayer membranes.

Ching-Hsien Huang
- 01 Apr 1977 - 
- Vol. 12, Iss: 4, pp 348-356
TLDR
A model for the cholesterol-phosphatidylcholine complex is proposed, in which the 3β-hydroxyl group of cholesterol is assumed to engage in hydrogen bonding with the carbonyl oxygen of the fatty acyl groups in phospholipids.
Abstract
Based on the structural properties of phospholipid and cholesterol molecules, and making use of the known structural and motional effects of cholesterol and its analogs on phospholipid bilayers, a model for the cholesterol-phosphatidylcholine complex is proposed. In this model, the 3β-hydroxyl group of cholesterol is assumed to engage in hydrogen bonding with the carbonyl oxygen of the fatty acyl groups in phospholipids. Some specific configurations of the saturated and unsaturated fatty acyl chains of the phospholipid are suggested to participate in van der Waals attractive interactions with the α and β surface of the steroid nucleus.

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Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI

Cholesterol and the cell membrane.

TL;DR: Recent studies concerning cholesterol, its behavior and its roles in cell growth provide important new clues to the role of this fascinating molecule in normal and pathological states.
Journal ArticleDOI

Physical properties of the fluid lipid-bilayer component of cell membranes: a perspective.

TL;DR: The motivation for this review arises from the conviction that, as a result of the mass of experimental data and observations collected in recent years, the study of the physical properties of membranes is now entering a new stage of development.
Journal ArticleDOI

Lipid intermolecular hydrogen bonding: influence on structural organization and membrane function.

TL;DR: The tendency of certain lipids to self-associate, their asymmetric distribution in SUVs, their preferential association with cholesterol in non-cocrystallizing mixtures, their temperature-induced transitions to the hexagonal phase and their inhibitory effect on penetration of hydrophobic residues of proteins partway into the bilayer can all be explained by their participation in intermolecular hydrogen bonding interactions.
Journal ArticleDOI

Chemical stability of liposomes: implications for their physical stability

TL;DR: In the first part of this article, chemical and physical stability of aqueous liposome dispersions have been addressed and a HPLC method with a refractive index detector for the analysis of phospholipids from aqueously liposomes dispersions is described.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI

Studies on lecithin-cholesterol-water interactions by differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffraction

TL;DR: The cholesterol controls the fluidity of the hydrocarbon chains of the phospholipid by disruption of the crystalline chain lattice of the gel phase, and by inhibiting the flexing of chains in the dispersed liquid crystalline phase.
Journal ArticleDOI

Structural analysis of hydrated egg lecithin and cholesterol bilayers I. X-ray diffraction

TL;DR: Lamellar X-ray diffraction from hydrated multilayers of a 3:2 molar mixture of egg lecithin and cholesterol has been analysed and molecular models of the bilayer are presented.
Journal ArticleDOI

The movement of molecules across lipid membranes: A molecular theory

TL;DR: A model for the flow of molecules through lipid membranes based on thermal fluctuations in the hydrocarbon chains of the membrane lipids results in the formation of conformational isomers, so-called kink-isomers of the hydro carbon chains.
Journal ArticleDOI

Structure of oriented lipid bilayers.

TL;DR: X-ray diffraction studies show that lipid hydrocarbon chains are uniformly packed in bilayers and oriented so that their free ends are near the centre, which provides a model for biological membranes.
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