Membrane thickness and acyl chain length

doi:10.1016/0005-2736(83)90106-2

Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Biomembranes

Volume 733, Issue 1, 24 August 1983, Pages 189-193

https://doi.org/10.1016/0005-2736(83)90106-2 Get rights and content

Abstract

It appears reasonable to expect that the primary result of a change in the length of the acyl chains within a lipid bilayer is a similar change in the bilayer thickness. In the present communication we draw attention to the somewhat more complicated effects which are found experimentally for phosphatidylcholine bilayers as the hydrocarbon chain is varied from twelve to eighteen carbons in length. The major change in dimension which occurs with variation in acyl chain length is the area occupied per molecule rather than the bilayer thickness. The same effect is seen with solute hydrocarbon such as hexane which partition into the membrane and cause only a small variation in membrane thickness but a large increase in the molecular area of the lipid. The origin of this effect arises from the almost isotropic distribution of the additional hydrocarbon to the lipid core of the membrane.

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Citation Excerpt :
However, this reflects the changes in the transverse direction only. Another significant change takes place in the plane of the bilayer, namely to the area per lipid [35]. As a first approximation, one can estimate the behavior of area from the fact that bilayer thickness increases linearly with each additional carbon, and so does lipid volume.
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BBA reportMembrane thickness and acyl chain length

Abstract

J. Biol. Chem.

J. Lipid Res.

Chem. Phys. Lipids

J. Mol. Biol.

Biophys. J.

Chem. Phys. Lipids

Mol. Biol.

J. Mol. Biol.

Biochim. Biophys. Acta

Introduction to Solid State Physics

Neutron Diffraction

BBA report
Membrane thickness and acyl chain length