Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 10, 2026

Assembly of Cell Mimicking Supported and Suspended Lipid Bilayer Models for the Study of Molecular Interactions
Published on: August 3, 2021
Contrary Effects of Cholesterol on Single-Component and Synaptic Vesicle Mimicking Lipid Bilayers
Ankur Chaudhary1, Parth Sarathi Nayak1, Debsankar Saha Roy1
1Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai 400005, Maharashtra, India.
Abstract:
Cholesterol is a major determinant of biological lipid membrane properties. Its physiological levels are affected by widely used prescription drugs. The effect of changing the cholesterol content has been extensively studied in model lipid bilayers, but it still remains a matter of debate. Here we compare the effect of cholesterol on synaptic vesicle-mimicking (consisting of POPE, POPC, POPS) and single-component bilayers (containing POPC). We quantify the effects of cholesterol on the mechanical properties of the membrane (e.g., lipid packing, polarity, and the force needed for an AFM tip to break through the bilayer), and their relationship to membrane fusion. Cholesterol increases lipid chain packing both in PC/PE/PS and in POPC. However, in PC/PE/PS, contrary to POPC, cholesterol decreases the breakthrough force and accelerates spontaneous vesicle fusion. So, cholesterol may drive the properties of specific biological membranes in a direction that is opposite to that observed for simpler bilayers.
Related Concept Videos
Asymmetric Lipid Bilayer
Assembly of the Lipid Bilayer in the ER
A large chunk of any biological membrane is composed of phospholipids. These lipids have a heterogeneous distribution across different subcellular organelles and even between...
Synthesis of Phosphatidylcholine in the ER Membrane
The major components of all eukaryotic cell...
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...
Membrane Domains
Protein Domains
The membrane comprises a group of distinct proteins responsible for carrying out a cell's specific function. For example, the plasma membrane of the human sperm, or a single germ cell, contains a unique set of proteins in the...
Membrane Fluidity

