Abstract
THE arrangement of lipid molecules in biological membranes enables them to play both a structural part in providing a matrix for membrane proteins and a functional one, in which they act as a barrier to the free flow of solutes1. These roles are usually fulfilled by phospholipids arranged in a flat bilayer with the hydrophobic segments of the molecules orientated towards the interior of the bilayer. The importance of this orientation is recognized in studies of model lipid membranes. Much of the knowledge of membrane lipid function has come from work with aqueous dispersions of liposomes, or microscopic phospholipid particles, in which the molecular arrangement is similar to the orientation found in biological structures2.
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GEBICKI, J., HICKS, M. Ufasomes are Stable Particles surrounded by Unsaturated Fatty Acid Membranes. Nature 243, 232–234 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1038/243232a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/243232a0
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