Carbon-13 and proton nuclear magnetic resonance of unsonicated model and mitochondrial membranes.

Proton nuclear magnetic resonance (PMR) spectra at 270 MHz of aqueous dispersions of nonsonicated egg lecithin, dipalmitoyl lecithin, egg lecithin-cholesterol (1 : 1 ) and dipalmitoyl lecithin-cholesterol (1 : 1), together with PMR spectra of mitochondrial membranes and their extracted lipids, have been obtained. Carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance (CMR) spectra at 25.2 MHz of egg lecithin, egg lecithin-cholesterol (1 : 1) and sphingomyelin, together with CMR spectra of chloroplast and mitochondrial membranes, and erythrocyte ghosts, have also been obtained. The results obtained using CMR appear very promising for further study of intact membrane structure. It is suggested, on the basis of CMR evidence, that the proteins in mitochondrial membranes may be considerably less mobile than the lipids.