Annular lipids (also called shell lipids or boundary lipids) are a set of

lipid Lipids are a broad group of naturally-occurring molecules which includes fats, waxes, sterols, fat-soluble vitamins (such as vitamins A, D, E and K), monoglycerides, diglycerides, phospholipids, and others. The functions of lipids in ...

s or lipidic molecules which preferentially bind or stick to the surface of

membrane protein Membrane proteins are common proteins that are part of, or interact with, biological membranes. Membrane proteins fall into several broad categories depending on their location. Integral membrane proteins are a permanent part of a cell membrane ...

s in

biological cells The cell is the basic structural and functional unit of life forms. Every cell consists of a cytoplasm enclosed within a membrane, and contains many biomolecules such as proteins, DNA and RNA, as well as many small molecules of nutrients an ...

. They constitute a layer, or an annulus/ shell, of lipids which are partially immobilized due to the existence of lipid-protein interactions. Polar headgroups of these lipids bind to the hydrophilic part of the membrane protein(s) at the inner and outer surfaces of lipid bilayer membrane. The hydrophobic surface of the membrane proteins is bound to the apposed lipid

fatty acid In chemistry, particularly in biochemistry, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid with an aliphatic chain, which is either saturated or unsaturated. Most naturally occurring fatty acids have an unbranched chain of an even number of carbon atoms, f ...

chains of the membrane bilayer. For

integral membrane protein An integral, or intrinsic, membrane protein (IMP) is a type of membrane protein that is permanently attached to the biological membrane. All ''transmembrane proteins'' are IMPs, but not all IMPs are transmembrane proteins. IMPs comprise a sign ...

s spanning the thickness of the membrane bilayer, these annular/shell lipids may act like a lubricating layer on the proteins' surfaces, thereby facilitating almost free rotation and lateral diffusion of membrane proteins within the 2-dimensional expanse of the biological membrane(s). Outside the layer of shell/annular lipids, lipids are not tied down to protein molecules. However, they may be slightly restricted in their segmental motion freedom due to mild peer pressure of protein molecules, if present in high concentration, which arises from extended influence of protein-lipid interaction. Membrane areas away from protein molecules contain

lamellar phase Lamellar phase refers generally to packing of polar-headed long chain nonpolar-tail molecules in an environment of bulk polar liquid, as sheets of bilayers separated by bulk liquid. In biophysics, polar lipids (mostly, phospholipids, and rarely, gl ...

bulk lipids, which are largely free from any restraining effects due to protein-lipid interactions. Thermal denaturation of membrane proteins may destroy the secondary and tertiary structure of membrane proteins, exposing newer surfaces to membrane lipids and therefore increasing the number of lipids molecules in the annulus/shell layer. This phenomenon can be studied by the spin label

electron paramagnetic resonance Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) or electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy is a method for studying materials that have unpaired electrons. The basic concepts of EPR are analogous to those of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), but the spin ...

technique. The protein-lipid binding are dependent on OmpF pH levels and their structural features and location of the membranes. When said lipids bind to OmpF it is sensitive to changes that may occur in the electrospray polarity.

See more

* Lipid bilayer * Membrane lipids

References

{{Reflist Lipids

See more

Further reading

References