Journal of Lipid Research, Vol 18, 417-422, Copyright © 1977 by Lipid Research, Inc.
An electron spin resonance study of cholestane spin label in aqueous mixtures of biliary lipids
RD Stevens
The effect of cholesterol on the fluidity of the phospholipid matrix in
mixed micelles derived from bile salts and lecithin has been determined by
the paramagnetic probe technique. It was found that correlation times for
the cholestane spin label were discontinuous functions of cholesterol
content and that these discontinuities correlate with the equilibrium
solubility limit for cholesterol in this quaternary system. The origin of
these discontinuities is attributed to the existence of another aggregate
in addition to the discshaped mixed micelle in lipid solutions
supersaturated with cholesterol.