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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1969 Sep;64(1):20–27. doi: 10.1073/pnas.64.1.20

ORIENTATION AND MOTION OF AMPHIPHILIC SPIN LABELS IN MEMBRANES*

Wayne L Hubbell 1,, Harden M McConnell 1
PMCID: PMC286120  PMID: 4312749

Abstract

The paramagnetic resonance spectra of N-oxyl-4′,′-dimethyloxazolidine derivatives of 12-ketostearic acid, 5-ketostearic acid, 5-ketotricosanoic acid, and 5α-androstan-3-one-17β-ol have been observed in sonicated phospholipid dispersions, the walking-leg nerve fibers of Homarus americanus, and in erythrocytes oriented by hydrodynamic shear. The preferred orientation of these spin labels in the nerve and erythrocyte membranes is one in which the long amphiphilic axis is perpendicular to the membrane surface. The resonance spectra indicate that these labels in the nerve fiber are bound to a lipid bilayer very similar to that found in the sonicated phospholipid dispersion, whereas any lipid bilayer in the erythrocyte must be much more rigid.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Hubbell W. L., McConnell H. M. Spin-label studies of the excitable membranes of nerve and muscle. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1968 Sep;61(1):12–16. doi: 10.1073/pnas.61.1.12. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
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