Liquid Crystalline Interactions Between Cholesteryl Esters and Phospholipids

Abstract

Among the many organic compounds which form liquid crystalline states, phospholipids and cholesteryl esters are naturally occurring, biologically important molecules. Phospholipids are the major lipid components of cell membranes (1) and together with cholesteryl esters comprise the bulk of lipids found in the circulating lipoproteins of the serum (2). The liquid crystalline nature of these lipids has been shown to be intrinsically important in the structure of both membranes and low density serum lipoproteins (3–5). Certain diseases, in particular atherosclerosis, are associated with the accumulation of phospholipid and cholesteryl ester (6,7). In atherosclerosis, these lipids have been shown to be primarily in their liquid crystalline states at physiological temperature (8).