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Membrane bilayer assembly in neural tissue of rat and squid as a critical phenomenon: Influence of temperature and membrane proteins

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Summary

Cell membrane bilayers have been reconstructed in vitro utilizing total lipid extracts from rat neural tissue (forebrain, cerebellum, brainstem and spinal cord) and from the optic lobe and fin nerve of the squidLoligo pealei. In agreement with the critical state theory of bilayer assembly (Gershfeld, N.L. 1986.Biophys. J. 50:457–461; Gershfeld, N.L. 1989.J. Phys. Chem. 93:5256–5261), these lipid extracts spontaneously formed purely unilamellar structures in aqueous dispersion, but only at a critical temperature,T *, which was species dependent. For all the rat tissuesT *=37±1°C; for squid neural extractsT *=15.5±1.4°C. These values correspond to ‘physiological’ temperatures for both organisms, implying that their lipid metabolism is geared to permit spontaneous assembly of unilamellar membranes at the ambient temperature in the tissues. Membrane protein composition had little or no effect on critical bilayer formation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Physical Biology, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Disease, National Institutes of Health, 20892, Bethesda, Maryland

    Lionel Ginsberg & Norman L. Gershfeld

  2. Laboratory of Biophysics, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, 20892, Bethesda, Maryland

    Daniel L. Gilbert

Authors
  1. Lionel Ginsberg
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  2. Daniel L. Gilbert
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  3. Norman L. Gershfeld
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Ginsberg, L., Gilbert, D.L. & Gershfeld, N.L. Membrane bilayer assembly in neural tissue of rat and squid as a critical phenomenon: Influence of temperature and membrane proteins. J. Membrain Biol. 119, 65–73 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01868541

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01868541

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