Exploration of phase separation in heterogeneous lipid monolayers

A Langmuir monolayer is a well established model of a single leaflet of a lipid membrane. In this work, we investigate the phase separation behavior of a model Langmuir monolayer as a function of both Langmuir surface pressure and ratio of saturated lipid : unsaturated lipid : cholesterol. The specifics of domain separation behavior, or ``rafting,'' in membranes are generally thought to be responsible for much of the behavior of living membranes, specifically in protein integration and transport. Off-specular x-ray scattering is used to probe in-plane structure of the membrane at the sub-micron scale. Additionally, atomic force microscopy imaging is taken on samples transferred to a rigid support. In-plane order is found to grow as a function of surface pressure. Also, the in-plane order is found to depend on cholesterol concentration in the monolayer. The phase space of the in-plane order as a function of lipid and cholesterol concentration is presented.