Lipids multilamellar arrays

Mammalian skin is perhaps the most formidable transport barrier found in nature. The lipids of the stratum comeum, the outermost skin layer, form the primary barrier to transport of many compounds of therapeutic interest (Scheuplein, 1965,1978 Potts and Guy, 1992 Blank and Scheuplein, 1969 Elias, 1983,1987,1991). AsshownschematicallyinFig. 2, these lipids form broad multilamellar arrays in the extracellular space surrounding the remains of epidermal cells known as comeocytes. The lipids have a unique composition (fatty acids, cholesterol, and ceramides no phospholipids are present) and form the only continuous domain within the stratum comeum (Elias, 1983, 1987, 1991). Despite profound differences between stratum comeum lipids and those of the phospholipid bilayers more commonly found in other biomembranes, direct comparison of passive transport through each suggests a common mechanism involving Ifee-volume fluctuations in the lipid alkyl chains. Transport within the lipid hydrocarbon domain substantially restricts the permeability of large mol-... 

Carbon chains tipped with a particular common head group chemical. .L. Toppozini et al. Adenosine monophosphate forms ordered arrays in multilamellar lipid matrices insights into assembly of nucleic acid for primitive life. 2013. PLoS One 8(5), p. e62810. DOl 10.1371/journal.pone.0062810. 

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