Effect of cholesterol in membranes. Pulsed nuclear magnetic resonance measurements of lipid lateral diffusion.

Lateral diffusion coefficients of lipids in a bilayer can be measured directly in a macroscopically aligned sample by use of a pulsed NMR method with pulsed magnetic field gradients [Lindblom, G., & Wennerström, H. (1977) Biophys. Chem. 6, 167]. This technique has been utilized to investigate the influence of cholesterol on the lipid diffusion of egg yolk lecithin, palmitoyloleoyllecithin, and dioleoyllecithin. It is found that cholesterol has a very small effect on the phospholipid diffusion. On the other hand, cholesterol has a great influence on the molecular ordering in the bilayer and on the lipid phase structure. It is therefore suggested that cholesterol exerts its dominant effect on the lipid membrane stability.