2.3.1—
The Membrane Matrix

2.3.1.1—
Phospholipids

The structure of phospholipid molecules considered earlier provides the key to understanding why it is that the membranes as seen in transverse sections have

a characteristic trilaminar appearance. The hydrophilic head regions make hydrogen bonds with water and may become cross-linked to other heads and to proteins through ionic bridges, e.g. by calcium ions; thus they are organized into a lattice-like structure. By contrast the long acyl chains of the two fatty acids attached to each phospholipid are strongly hydrophobic, loosely organized and, above their melting point, are relatively fluid. If phospholipid is dispersed in water the 'tails' will take on a conformation which will minimize their contacts with water. The 'heads' will, of course, react favourably with water. If the available water surface is large relative to the amount of lipid, the molecules will arrange themselves as a film-like monolayer with the heads at the water surface and the 'tails' protruding from it at right angles (Fig. 2.6a). If more phospholipid molecules are added to this system so that there are more than can be fitted into a tightly packed monolayer over the water surface, a second type of arrangement occurs quite spontaneously. The phospholipids form two ranks with the heads facing outwards in both and the tails directed inwards to form a non-polar hydrophobic layer sandwiched between them (Fig. 2.6b). This bilayer arrangement, which is common to all biological membranes, can also be formed from mixtures of phospholipids under laboratory conditions. The synthetic membranes thus produced have helped in arriving at an understanding of many of the structure/function relationships of natural membranes (see Goldup et al., 1970, for a readable review).

Figure 2.6
An illustration of how a monolayer of dispersed phospholipid (a) in water, forms
into a bilayer, (b) on contraction of the water surface area. The phospholipid
heads have water bound to them in polarized multilayers (see p. 35).

The selected analyses in Table 2.2 show that a given membrane may contain several types of phospholipid as well as appreciable quantities of sterol. It is probable that there is a great deal more organization of phospholipids in natural membranes than can be demonstrated positively at present. Lipids of one kind may be associated into clumps so that the membrane surface may be very heterogeneous with lipids of differing physical properties arranged in a mosaic.

A mosaic of charged and uncharged areas might occur because some phospholipids carry a net electrostatic charge at normal pH values, e.g. phosphatidyl glycerol, while others, like phosphatidyl choline (lecithin) are neutral. This is of significance because it has been shown that, in synthetic bilayers, the surface charge on the phospholipid heads can partly determine both the ion-selectivity and the cation permeability of the membrane (Papahadjopoulos, 1971), and it may also be relevant in determining regions of the surface of the plasmalemma where endo-cytosis may occur (see p. 61).

Local variations in the packing of sterols may render some parts of the membrane less fluid than others and thus determine areas where diffusion may be severely restricted (Papahadjopoulos et al., 1973).

More recently researchers have begun to investigate the possibility that the inner and outer halves of the bilayer may differ in their phospholipid composition. Should this prove to be the case, then it is possible that the barrier properties of the membrane to solute diffusion may be different when the membrane is approached from different sides.

In some special circumstances phospholipid molecules may become arranged into globular micelles in which the polar groups are directed towards the periphery of the sphere, the surface being hydrophilic. This state of affairs can be induced by dehydration in synthetic membrane systems, and in nature by viruses which create membrane instability, e.g. sendai virus, and by certain phospholipids (e.g. lysolecithin) with wedge-shaped head regions which tend to induce curvature of layers of closely packed phospholipids when they are introduced into a bilayer (Lucy, 1970). It has been suggested that rapid local transitions from the predominant bilayer to the micellar state are important in membrane fusion and in pinocytosis (see Lucy, 1970). If these transitions do occur then it is possible that they may cause transient gaps or pores to be created in the membrane; much physiological evidence points to the conclusion that membranes do have very fine pores in them (see p. 59).

2.3.1.2—
Sterols

The insertion of sterol molecules into the membrane increases the structural order of the hydrophobic region. These molecules lie with their long axes parallel to the hydrocarbon chains of the fatty acids with their more rigid ring structures directed towards the outside and their open chain ends towards the centre. The mobility of the hydrocarbon chains nearest to the outside of the membrane is, therefore, restricted by these stiffening structures but they remain pliant at their ends so that the central region is fluid (Caspar & Kirschner, 1971). The rigidity conferred on the membrane by the inclusion of sterols slows down the diffusion of materials through the outer part of the lipid domain in synthetic bilayers (Papahadjopculos et al., 1973).

2.3.1.3—
A Model of the Membrane Matrix

Figure 2.7 provides a basic interpretation of the ideas on the membrane matrix discussed so far. A fact, which it is important to understand but which is difficult to illustrate, is that the centre of the membrane is fluid while the periphery is semi-crystalline. Although it is a stable structure, it is known that phospholipid molecules can be inserted into, and withdrawn from the matrix rapidly and that the structure illustrated in Fig 2.7 represents a dynamic steady state when it is part of a biological membrane.