STRUCTURE OF DILUTE LECITHIN-WATER SYSTEMS REVEALED BY FREEZE-ETCHING AND ELECTRON MICROSCOPY

The technique of freeze-etching has been used to study the structure of dilute dispersions of lecithins in water. The basic structure of these myelin figures, as deduced from other physical techniques and other methods of electron microscopy has been confirmed, but they are more variable and with much less regular water spaces than previously believed. The surfaces of the lipid lamellae are patterned. Evidence is advanced that the fracture in the frozen samples of egg-yolk lecithin appears to pass between lipid and water, and not along the central plane of the lipid bilayer. © 1969 Academic Press, Inc.