Start Date
2023
Description
Phospholipids molecules contain a fatty acid tail and a head made of a phosphate group (Fig.1) and serve as the building blocks of cellular membranes. The tails are hydrophobic, meaning they are weakly attracted to water, while the head group is hydrophilic, which is strongly attracted to water. Lipids in water will spontaneously form into bilayers with the tails towards the center (Fig.2) and the heads pointing towards the water on either side. This is how the lipid bilayers are formed to separate a cell's interior from exterior. Biological cells contain mixtures of many lipids and other molecules. In our study we created artificial membranes of one pure lipid type. By assembling the bilayers with lipids of identical head groups and different tail lengths we could measure the effect of tail length on conductivity.The tail length can determine many important aspects of the bilayer. The longer tails are more stable at higher temperature and have a lower conductivity. As the temperature increases the bilayer becomes more permeable allowing ions through. Our goal was to record this change by measuring electrical conductance as a function of temperature and compare to theoretical predictions.
Recommended Citation
Mount, Dylan; Grabill, Sebastian; and Haarsma, Loren, "Temperature Effects on Conductivity of Phospholipid Bilayers" (2023). Summer Research. 31.
https://digitalcommons.calvin.edu/summer_research/2023/Posters/31
Included in
Temperature Effects on Conductivity of Phospholipid Bilayers
Phospholipids molecules contain a fatty acid tail and a head made of a phosphate group (Fig.1) and serve as the building blocks of cellular membranes. The tails are hydrophobic, meaning they are weakly attracted to water, while the head group is hydrophilic, which is strongly attracted to water. Lipids in water will spontaneously form into bilayers with the tails towards the center (Fig.2) and the heads pointing towards the water on either side. This is how the lipid bilayers are formed to separate a cell's interior from exterior. Biological cells contain mixtures of many lipids and other molecules. In our study we created artificial membranes of one pure lipid type. By assembling the bilayers with lipids of identical head groups and different tail lengths we could measure the effect of tail length on conductivity.The tail length can determine many important aspects of the bilayer. The longer tails are more stable at higher temperature and have a lower conductivity. As the temperature increases the bilayer becomes more permeable allowing ions through. Our goal was to record this change by measuring electrical conductance as a function of temperature and compare to theoretical predictions.