Lipid Bilayer Phase Behavior - Mixed Systems

Mixed Systems

Bilayers need not be composed of a single type of lipid and, in fact, most natural membranes are a complex mixture of different lipid molecules. Such mixtures often exhibit properties intermediate to their components, but are also capable of a phenomenon not seen in single component systems: phase separation. If some of the components are liquid at a given temperature while others are in the gel phase, the two phases can coexist in spatially separated populations. This phase separation plays a critical role in biochemical phenomena because membrane components such as proteins can partition into one or the other phase and thus be locally concentrated or activated.

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