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Free keywords:
Lipids, Membranes, Mixtures, Differential scanning calorimetry, Phase transitions
Abstract:
In a biological membrane, proteins require specificlipidsofdistinctive length and chain saturation surrounding them. The active tuning ofthe membrane thickness therefore opens new possibilities in the study andmanipulation of membrane proteins. Here, we introduce the concept of staplingphospholipids to different degrees of interdigitation depth by mixing 1,3-diamidophospholipids with single-chain bolalipids. The mixed membranes werestudied by calorimetric assays, electron microscopy, X-ray, and infrared measure-ments to provide a complete biophysical characterization of membrane stapling.The matching between the diamidophospholipids and the bolalipids can be sostrong as to completely induce a new phase that is more stable than the gel phase ofthe individual components.
