The complex polymorphism encountered by the newly synthesized class of dimeric lipids is described. The lipids possess two identical polar head groups linked by a spacer of systematically varied length as shown. For the short length, the spacer has to remain in the hydrophilic membrane part. For the long ones it prefers the hydrophobic interior and thus bridges two opposite monolayers. Many different membrane organizational arrangments are formed as a function of the m value.
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Bhattacharya et al. (1999) studied this question.