Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 3, 2026

Neutron Spin Echo Spectroscopy as a Unique Probe for Lipid Membrane Dynamics and Membrane-Protein Interactions
Published on: May 27, 2021
Detailed comparison of deuterium quadrupole profiles between sphingomyelin and phosphatidylcholine bilayers
Tomokazu Yasuda1, Masanao Kinoshita2, Michio Murata1
1Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, Osaka University, Toyonaka, Osaka, Japan; Japan Science and Technology Agency, ERATO, Lipid Active Structure Project, Toyonaka, Osaka, Japan.
Abstract:
Lipid rafts are microdomains rich in sphingomyelin (SM) and cholesterol (Chol). The essential question is why natural lipid rafts prefer SM rather than saturated diacyl glycerophosphocholine, although both form ordered membranes with Chol in model systems. Hence in this study, we synthesized site-specifically deuterated 1-palmitoyl-2-stearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholines that match the acyl chain length of stearoyl-SM (SSM), and compared their deuterium quadrupole coupling profiles in detail. The results suggest a deeper distribution of Chol in the SSM membranes, a lower entropic penalty upon accommodation of Chol in SSM membranes, and a higher thermal stability of acyl-chain orders in the SSM-Chol bilayers than in the 1-palmitoyl-2-stearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine-Chol system at various Chol concentrations. The entropy effect and thermal stability should render SM a more preferred raft constituent than saturated diacyl glycerophosphocholine. Our data also demonstrate that the selective and comprehensive deuteration strategy is indispensable for accurate comparison of order profiles.
More Related Videos
08:53Quantitative and Qualitative Method for Sphingomyelin by LC-MS Using Two Stable Isotopically Labeled Sphingomyelin Species
Published on: May 7, 2018
12:18Assembly of Cell Mimicking Supported and Suspended Lipid Bilayer Models for the Study of Molecular Interactions
Published on: August 3, 2021
Related Concept Videos
Asymmetric Lipid Bilayer
Synthesis of Phosphatidylcholine in the ER Membrane
The major components of all eukaryotic cell...
¹³C NMR: Distortionless Enhancement by Polarization Transfer (DEPT)
Membrane Lipids
Phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylserine, and sphingomyelin are the most common phospholipids present in mammalian membranes. At physiological pH, phosphatidylserine is negatively charged, while the other three...
¹H NMR of Labile Protons: Deuterium (²H) Substitution