Transbilayer movement of cholesterol in dipalmitoyllecithin-cholesterol vesicles
Abstract
THE movement of cholesterol across biological membranes is an important process for many cellular functions, but the mechanisms by which it occurs are not known. The movement of lipid molecules between the two halves of a bilayer, a process which has come to be known as flip flop, was first demonstrated to occur in films of stearate1. Subsequently, several workers have reported flip-flop times for phospholipids in model systems, the values obtained varying between several hours and many days depending on the system studied and the techniques used2-5.
- Publication:
-
Nature
- Pub Date:
- February 1976
- DOI:
- 10.1038/259420a0
- Bibcode:
- 1976Natur.259..420P