The Observation of Highly Ordered Domains in Membranes with Cholesterol

Clare L. Armstrong; Drew Marquardt; Hannah Dies; Norbert Kučerka; Zahra Yamani; Thad A. Harroun; John Katsaras; An Chang Shi; Maikel C. Rheinstädter

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0066162

The Observation of Highly Ordered Domains in Membranes with Cholesterol

Clare L. Armstrong, Drew Marquardt, Hannah Dies, Norbert Kučerka, Zahra Yamani, Thad A. Harroun, John Katsaras, An Chang Shi, Maikel C. Rheinstädter

Labs & Soft Matter

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103 Scopus citations

Abstract

Rafts, or functional domains, are transient nano- or mesoscopic structures in the exoplasmic leaflet of the plasma membrane, and are thought to be essential for many cellular processes. Using neutron diffraction and computer modelling, we present evidence for the existence of highly ordered lipid domains in the cholesterol-rich (32.5 mol%) liquid-ordered (l₀) phase of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine membranes. The liquid ordered phase in one-component lipid membranes has previously been thought to be a homogeneous phase. The presence of highly ordered lipid domains embedded in a disordered lipid matrix implies non-uniform distribution of cholesterol between the two phases. The experimental results are in excellent agreement with recent computer simulations of DPPC/cholesterol complexes [Meinhardt, Vink and Schmid (2013). Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 110(12): 4476-4481], which reported the existence of nanometer size l₀ domains in a liquid disordered lipid environment.

Original language	English
Article number	e66162
Journal	PLoS ONE
Volume	8
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0066162
State	Published - Jun 18 2013

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title = "The Observation of Highly Ordered Domains in Membranes with Cholesterol",

abstract = "Rafts, or functional domains, are transient nano- or mesoscopic structures in the exoplasmic leaflet of the plasma membrane, and are thought to be essential for many cellular processes. Using neutron diffraction and computer modelling, we present evidence for the existence of highly ordered lipid domains in the cholesterol-rich (32.5 mol%) liquid-ordered (l0) phase of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine membranes. The liquid ordered phase in one-component lipid membranes has previously been thought to be a homogeneous phase. The presence of highly ordered lipid domains embedded in a disordered lipid matrix implies non-uniform distribution of cholesterol between the two phases. The experimental results are in excellent agreement with recent computer simulations of DPPC/cholesterol complexes [Meinhardt, Vink and Schmid (2013). Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 110(12): 4476-4481], which reported the existence of nanometer size l0 domains in a liquid disordered lipid environment.",

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AU - Armstrong, Clare L.

AU - Marquardt, Drew

AU - Dies, Hannah

AU - Kučerka, Norbert

AU - Yamani, Zahra

AU - Harroun, Thad A.

AU - Katsaras, John

AU - Shi, An Chang

AU - Rheinstädter, Maikel C.

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AB - Rafts, or functional domains, are transient nano- or mesoscopic structures in the exoplasmic leaflet of the plasma membrane, and are thought to be essential for many cellular processes. Using neutron diffraction and computer modelling, we present evidence for the existence of highly ordered lipid domains in the cholesterol-rich (32.5 mol%) liquid-ordered (l0) phase of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine membranes. The liquid ordered phase in one-component lipid membranes has previously been thought to be a homogeneous phase. The presence of highly ordered lipid domains embedded in a disordered lipid matrix implies non-uniform distribution of cholesterol between the two phases. The experimental results are in excellent agreement with recent computer simulations of DPPC/cholesterol complexes [Meinhardt, Vink and Schmid (2013). Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 110(12): 4476-4481], which reported the existence of nanometer size l0 domains in a liquid disordered lipid environment.

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The Observation of Highly Ordered Domains in Membranes with Cholesterol

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