Architecture of bacterial lipid A in solution
Open Access
- 1 June 1990
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wiley in European Journal of Biochemistry
- Vol. 190 (2) , 359-363
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1432-1033.1990.tb15583.x
Abstract
The phase structure of isolated bacterial lipid A, the lipid anchor of the lipopolysaccharides of the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria, has been investigated by neutron small-angle scattering. The shape of the scattering curves obtained at different H2O/2H2O ratios revealed a lamellar organisation of the lipid A at neutral pH both above and below its main phase temperature (approximately 40–45°C). Analysis of the scattering curves and interpretation of the corresponding thickness distance distribution functions of the lamellar aggregates led to a model in which the lipid A molecules form a bilayer of about 5 nm in thickness. This value for the thickness of the bilayer, as well as the neutron-scattering density profile across the bilayer, can be explained by a molecular model which shows interdigitation of the fatty acid chains of the lipid A.This publication has 25 references indexed in Scilit:
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