EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -Cholesterol modulates the bilayer structure of biological membranes in multiple ways. It changes the fluidity, thickness, compressibility, water penetration and intrinsic curvature of lipid bilayers.

Detailed explanation-2: -On the biophysical front, cholesterol significantly increases the order of the lipid packing, lowers the membrane permeability, and maintains membrane fluidity by forming liquid-ordered–phase lipid rafts.

Detailed explanation-3: -Cell membrane fluidity is the property of the cell membrane that allows it to adapt its shape and movement to different conditions. Three key factors influence cell membrane fluidity: temperature, cholesterol, and the kind of fatty acids in the phospholipids that form the cell membrane.

Detailed explanation-4: -Acting as essential building blocks of the plasma membranes, cholesterol plays pivotal roles in maintaining the structural integrity and regulating the fluidity of cell membranes [17–20], therefore contributing to the homeodynamics of various membrane proteins on the cell surface.

Detailed explanation-5: -Cholesterol interacts with the fatty acid tails of phospholipids to moderate the properties of the membrane: Cholesterol functions to immobilise the outer surface of the membrane, reducing fluidity. It makes the membrane less permeable to very small water-soluble molecules that would otherwise freely cross.