PMID: 6168283Jul 20, 1981Paper

Effects of n-alkanes on the morphology of lipid bilayers. A freeze-fracture and negative stain analysis

Biochimica Et Biophysica Acta
T J McIntosh, M J Costello

Abstract

The effect of n-alkanes on the ultrastructure of lipid bilayers has been investigated using freeze-fracture and negative stain electron microscopy. It has been found that the morphology of bilayers containing the long alkane tetradecane is quite different from bilayers containing the short alkane hexane. The smooth fracture faces of gel and liquid crystalline state bilayers are unmodified by tetradecane. However, hexane dramatically alters the hydrophobic bilayer interior, producing large (20 to 50 nm) mounds and depressions in the fracture faces. The fracture steps in these multilayer preparations containing hexane are variable in thickness and often considerably wider than the corresponding fracture steps in multilayers which contain tetradecane or are solvent-free. Alkanes also modify the structure of the P beta' or 'banded' phase of phosphatidylcholine bilayers. The incorporation of tetradecane removes the banded structure from both the bilayer's hydrophilic surface, as viewed by negative staining, and the bilayer's hydrophobic interior, as viewed by the freeze-fracture technique. These results are consistent with X-ray diffraction data which imply that long alkanes are primarily located between adjacent lipid hydrocarbon c...Continue Reading

References

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Citations

Jun 1, 1987·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·R C MacDonald, S A Simon
Oct 29, 2000·Journal of Bacteriology·H KobayashiK Horikoshi
Feb 1, 1982·Journal of Microscopy·M J CostelloM Höchli
Dec 18, 1984·Biochimica Et Biophysica Acta·M A StidhamJ N Siedow
Sep 18, 1987·Biochimica Et Biophysica Acta·A HicksM A Singer
Aug 17, 1982·Biochemistry·R V McDanielV Borovyagin
Feb 8, 1982·Biochimica Et Biophysica Acta·T J McIntoshG Zampighi

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