Department of Biology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Invalidenstr. 42, D-10115 Berlin, Germany.
Institute for Medical Physics and Biophysics, Leipzig University, Härtelstr. 16-18, D-04107 Leipzig, Germany.
Molecules. 2017 Aug 22;22(8):1390. doi: 10.3390/molecules22081390.
Sterols play a unique role for the structural and dynamical organization of membranes. The current study reports data on the membrane properties of the phytosterol (3β,5α,22E)-stigmasta-7,22-dien-3-β-ol (α-spinasterol), which represents an important component of argan oil and have not been investigated so far in molecular detail. In particular, the impact of α-spinasterol on the structure and organization of lipid membranes was investigated and compared with those of cholesterol. Various membrane parameters such as the molecular packing of the phospholipid fatty acyl chains, the membrane permeability toward polar molecules, and the formation of lateral membrane domains were studied. The experiments were performed on lipid vesicles using methods of NMR spectroscopy and fluorescence spectroscopy and microscopy. The results show that α-spinasterol resembles the membrane behavior of cholesterol to some degree.
甾醇在膜的结构和动力学组织中起着独特的作用。本研究报告了植物甾醇（3β,5α,22E）-豆甾-7,22-二烯-3-β-醇（α-菠菜甾醇）的膜性质数据，它是阿甘油的重要组成部分，迄今为止尚未在分子水平上进行详细研究。特别是，研究了α-菠菜甾醇对脂质膜结构和组织的影响，并与胆固醇进行了比较。使用 NMR 光谱和荧光光谱和显微镜的方法在脂质体上进行了各种膜参数的研究，如磷脂脂肪酸链的分子堆积、极性分子对膜的通透性以及横向膜域的形成。结果表明，α-菠菜甾醇在某种程度上类似于胆固醇的膜行为。
