Hybrid lipids as a biological surface-active component. 2009

R Brewster, and P A Pincus, and S A Safran
Weizmann Institute of Science, Department of Materials and Interfaces, Rehovot, Israel.

Cell membranes contain small domains (on the order of nanometers in size, sometimes called rafts) of lipids whose hydrocarbon chains are more ordered than those of the surrounding bulk-phase lipids. Whether these domains are fluctuations, metastable, or thermodynamically stable, is still unclear. Here, we show theoretically how a lipid with one saturated hydrocarbon chain that prefers the ordered environment and one partially unsaturated chain that prefers the less ordered phase, can act as a line-active component. We present a unified model that treats the lipids in both the bulk and at the interface and show how they lower the line tension between domains, eventually driving it to zero at sufficiently large interaction strengths or at sufficiently low temperatures. In this limit, finite-sized domains stabilized by the packing of these hybrid lipids can form as equilibrium structures.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008051 Lipid Bilayers Layers of lipid molecules which are two molecules thick. Bilayer systems are frequently studied as models of biological membranes. Bilayers, Lipid,Bilayer, Lipid,Lipid Bilayer
D008560 Membrane Fluidity The motion of phospholipid molecules within the lipid bilayer, dependent on the classes of phospholipids present, their fatty acid composition and degree of unsaturation of the acyl chains, the cholesterol concentration, and temperature. Bilayer Fluidity,Bilayer Fluidities,Fluidities, Bilayer,Fluidities, Membrane,Fluidity, Bilayer,Fluidity, Membrane,Membrane Fluidities
D008956 Models, Chemical Theoretical representations that simulate the behavior or activity of chemical processes or phenomena; includes the use of mathematical equations, computers, and other electronic equipment. Chemical Models,Chemical Model,Model, Chemical
D003198 Computer Simulation Computer-based representation of physical systems and phenomena such as chemical processes. Computational Modeling,Computational Modelling,Computer Models,In silico Modeling,In silico Models,In silico Simulation,Models, Computer,Computerized Models,Computer Model,Computer Simulations,Computerized Model,In silico Model,Model, Computer,Model, Computerized,Model, In silico,Modeling, Computational,Modeling, In silico,Modelling, Computational,Simulation, Computer,Simulation, In silico,Simulations, Computer
D013500 Surface Tension The force acting on the surface of a liquid, tending to minimize the area of the surface. (From McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 6th ed) Interfacial Force,Interfacial Tension,Surface Tensions,Tension, Surface,Tensions, Surface
D013501 Surface-Active Agents Agents that modify interfacial tension of water; usually substances that have one lipophilic and one hydrophilic group in the molecule; includes soaps, detergents, emulsifiers, dispersing and wetting agents, and several groups of antiseptics. Surface Active Agent,Surface-Active Agent,Surfactant,Surfactants,Tenside,Amphiphilic Agents,Surface Active Agents,Tensides,Active Agent, Surface,Active Agents, Surface,Agent, Surface Active,Agent, Surface-Active,Agents, Amphiphilic,Agents, Surface Active,Agents, Surface-Active
D021962 Membrane Microdomains Detergent-insoluble CELL MEMBRANE components. They are enriched in SPHINGOLIPIDS and CHOLESTEROL and clustered with glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored proteins. Lipid Rafts, Cell Membrane,Sphingolipid Microdomains,Sphingolipid-Cholesterol Rafts,Membrane Microdomain,Microdomain, Membrane,Microdomain, Sphingolipid,Microdomains, Membrane,Microdomains, Sphingolipid,Sphingolipid Cholesterol Rafts,Sphingolipid Microdomain,Sphingolipid-Cholesterol Raft

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