Maximal change in rat hepatocyte and E.coli cytoplasmic membrane thickness following cholesterol and protein depletion

Range Cholesterol depletion 1: Protein depletion 4-5 Å
Organism Various
Reference Mitra K, Ubarretxena-Belandia I, Taguchi T, Warren G, Engelman DM. Modulation of the bilayer thickness of exocytic pathway membranes by membrane proteins rather than cholesterol. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2004 Mar 23 101(12):4083-8 p. 4086 right column top paragraph (cholesterol depletion) bottom paragraph (protein depletion) doi: 10.1073/pnas.0307332101PubMed ID15016920
Method Solution x-ray scattering (SXS). SXS permits direct determination of the distance (d) between the highly electron-dense phosphate groups across the bilayer of membranes in solution.
Comments Researchers show that removal of membrane proteins from rat hepatocyte Golgi and basolateral plasma membranes, and E. coli cell membranes, can increase or decrease bilayer thickness by up to 4–5Å, depending on the membrane studied, suggesting that membrane proteins can significantly modulate the bilayer thickness of these membranes.
Entered by Uri M
ID 105824