Effect of cholesterol on the water permeability of thin lipid membranes [42]

IN order to assess the relative importance of the various membrane constituents in determining the water permeability of thin (<100 ) lipid membranes^1,2, we have conducted a series of experiments in which the concentrations of the individual components, particularly cholesterol, in the membrane forming solutions have been varied. The osmotic permeability coefficients, P_f, of membranes formed from the solutions given in Table 1 were determined as described before³.