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A Microscopic Model Calculation of the Phase Diagram of Ternary Mixtures of Cholesterol and Saturated and Unsaturated Phospholipids

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Lipid Rafts

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 398))

Abstract

The authors solved a microscopic model that describes mixtures of a saturated phospholipid, an unsaturated phospholipid, and cholesterol. The method employed was the self-consistent field approximation. The model was capable of producing several classes of phase diagram, but only one of them showed a liquid-liquid coexistence region. The phospholipids in the cholesterol-rich liquid are more ordered than those in the cholesterol-poor liquid. Within this model, coexistence of two liquids in the ternary system is intimately tied to such coexistence in the binary cholesterol-saturated phospholipid system.

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© 2007 Humana Press Inc., Totowa, NJ

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Elliott, R., Szleifer, I., Schick, M. (2007). A Microscopic Model Calculation of the Phase Diagram of Ternary Mixtures of Cholesterol and Saturated and Unsaturated Phospholipids. In: McIntosh, T.J. (eds) Lipid Rafts. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 398. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-513-8_20

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-513-8_20

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-58829-729-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-59745-513-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

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