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. 1998 Aug;75(2):734–744. doi: 10.1016/S0006-3495(98)77563-0

Phospholipid component volumes: determination and application to bilayer structure calculations.

R S Armen 1, O D Uitto 1, S E Feller 1
PMCID: PMC1299748  PMID: 9675175

Abstract

We present a new method for the determination of bilayer structure based on a combination of computational studies and laboratory experiments. From molecular dynamics simulations, the volumes of submolecular fragments of saturated and unsaturated phosphatidylcholines in the liquid crystalline state have been extracted with a precision not available experimentally. Constancy of component volumes, both among different lipids and as a function of membrane position for a given lipid, have been examined. The component volumes were then incorporated into the liquid crystallographic method described by Wiener and White (1992. Biophys. J. 61:434-447, and references therein) for determining the structure of a fluid-phase dioleoylphosphatidylcholine bilayer from x-ray and neutron diffraction experiments.

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Selected References

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