{
  "abstract": "Plasma membranes are compositionally asymmetric, but whether this lipid-type asymmetry is accompanied by a substantial phospholipid-number imbalance between leaflets remains debated. Here, we use microsecond all-atom molecular dynamics simulations to compare human red blood cell plasma membrane models with either strong phospholipid-number asymmetry and exoplasmic cholesterol enrichment or near-symmetric phospholipid and cholesterol numbers but preserved lipid-type asymmetry. Both asymmetric models reproduce a densely packed, ordered exoplasmic leaflet and a more fluid cytoplasmic leaflet. Strong phospholipid-number asymmetry, however, drives extensive cholesterol enrichment in the exoplasmic leaflet and amplifies membrane asymmetry, leading to large cholesterol-rich clusters, enhanced shallow hydrophobic exposure, reduced exoplasmic lipid mobility, lower ethanol permeability, and increased area compressibility. Comparison with available diffusion and alcohol-permeability measurements indicates that the strongly asymmetric model overestimates the immobilization and barrier properties of the exoplasmic leaflet, whereas the near-symmetric-number model better captures these dynamic observables. Our results suggest that lipid-type asymmetry is sufficient to reproduce many physical hallmarks of plasma membranes without requiring a large phospholipid-number imbalance.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": "New results",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 4,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "C. R. Popov"
    },
    {
      "name": "M. F. Trollmann"
    },
    {
      "name": "C. Zhang"
    },
    {
      "name": "R. A. Böckmann"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ax3dk0yhes8se.bib",
  "cited_by": 1,
  "doi": "10.64898/2026.09.04.749494",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.04.749494v1.full",
  "id": "ax3dk0yhes8se",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.04.749494v1",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "biorxiv",
      "biophysics"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "1312|Lipid Membrane Structure and Behavior"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7212218992",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.04.749494v1.full.pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-04",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ax3dk0yhes8se.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:21:04Z",
      "native_id": "10.64898/2026.09.04.749494",
      "source": "biorxiv",
      "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.04.749494v1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biochemistry",
      "origin": "biorxiv:biophysics",
      "subfield": "biophysics"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Large phospholipid-number asymmetry is not required to reproduce plasma membrane physical properties",
  "title_text": "Large phospholipid-number asymmetry is not required to reproduce plasma membrane physical properties",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:21:04Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ax3dk0yhes8se",
  "venue": "bioRxiv",
  "versions": []
}