Figure 4. Cholesterol extraction from coexisting liquid-ordered L_o and liquid-disordered L_d domains.

Systems consist of SM/diC_18:2-PC/CHOL 35:35:30 molar ratio with 0.04 M β-CD dimers in solution, and were simulated at a CG level. Snapshots are shown after 10 μs simulation for both planar (A) and vesicular (B) membranes. β-CDs interact with the lipids from both L_d and L_o domains, and spontaneous cholesterol extraction is observed in both systems. Preferential extraction takes place form the disordered phase. The zoomed view highlights some of the CD-CHOL complexes formed. Color code: SM, light green; diC_18:2-PC, red; cholesterol, yellow; β-CD dimer; white. Water molecules are not depicted for clarity.