Lipid head (dashed line) and tail (dot-dashed line) fraction and hydrophilic shielding parameter (solid line) along the axis linking the centers of mass of two proteins of size Np = 43 embedded in the lipid bilayer with positive mismatch, at different interprotein distances: ξ = 126 Å (a), 103 Å (b), 78 Å (c), 58 Å (d), 45 Å (e), and 32 Å (f).