Figure 4.

Calculated phase diagrams as a function of the initial mole fraction of cholesterol (Chol), x₀, for a binary reactive mixture of Chol and phospholipids for different equilibrium constants K₀. This calculation considers multimeric complexes generated by the reaction nqC + npP ⇌ C_nqP_np. The parameters used are for room temperature (t = 1), p = 2, q = 1, a′ = −0.33 m/mN, b′ = −0.5 m/mN, c′ = −0.4 m/mN, π₁₂ = 15 mN/m, π₁₃ = 6 mN/m, π₂₃ = 3.3 mN/m, A₁⁰ = 40 Ų/molecule, A₂⁰ = 70 Ų/molecule, and A₃⁰ = n⋅140 Ų/molecule. The calculations are carried out for n = 5 by using Eq. 5 and procedures described earlier (4). The black line depicts the phase diagram when K₀ = 2, which corresponds to a phase diagram in the absence of any field (r = ∞). The gray line depicts the phase diagram when K₀ = 0, when the complex is destabilized, leaving behind a no-complex binary system.