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Science 6 May 1983:
Vol. 220. no. 4597, pp. 604 - 606
DOI: 10.1126/science.6836303
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Articles

Science, Vol 220, Issue 4597, 604-606
Copyright © 1983 by American Association for the Advancement of Science

articles

Phase transition and crystal structure of the 37 degrees C form of cholesterol

LY Hsu and CE Nordman

Crystalline cholesterol undergoes a phase transition a few degrees below human body temperature. The high-temperature form has an unusually complex structure with 16 independent molecules. In the transition two molecules change side chain conformation, four reorient about their long axes, and ten remain unchanged. The transition mechanism implies relatively nonspecific intermolecular interactions, qualitatively consistent with the behavior of cholesterol in biomembranes. The transition preserves a remarkably closely obeyed pseudosymmetry present in the structure.




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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)