Volume 114, Issue 2, Pages 254-255 (January 2018) Essential Insights into Lipid Membrane Organization from Essential Fatty Acids  Jenifer L. Thewalt  Biophysical Journal  Volume 114, Issue 2, Pages 254-255 (January 2018) DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2017.12.024 Copyright © 2018 Biophysical Society Terms and Conditions

Figure 1 Using 2H NMR to study domains in membranes: “one phase, two phase, red phase, blue phase”. Four distinct 2H NMR spectra are shown; each represents the signal from liquid crystalline multilamellar dispersions containing phosphatidylcholine with a fully deuterated C16:0 acyl chain. The red phase (top) is DPPC in the ld phase. The blue phase (bottom) is DPPC/cholesterol 70:30 in the lo phase. Coexistence of large lo and ld domains (red ld circles on a blue lo background) such as can be found in DPPC/DOPC/cholesterol 35:35:30 yields the spectrum on the right. Here, the large domains give rise to distinct ld and lo features in the 2H NMR spectrum: the ld edges are indicated by ∗ whereas the lo edges are denoted by +. Coexistence of small lo and ld domains, such as those found in DPPC/cholesterol 80:20, yields the spectrum on the left. Here, individual red and blue domains are too small to be resolved optically (thus purple), and the 2H NMR spectrum consists of blurred ld and lo signals due to lipid exchange. To see this figure in color, go online. Biophysical Journal 2018 114, 254-255DOI: (10.1016/j.bpj.2017.12.024) Copyright © 2018 Biophysical Society Terms and Conditions