{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,17]],"date-time":"2026-04-17T17:28:12Z","timestamp":1776446892614,"version":"3.51.2"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,4]],"date-time":"2021-03-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1614816000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001871","name":"Funda\u00e7\u00e3o para a Ci\u00eancia e a Tecnologia","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["PTDC\/BBB-BQB\/3494\/2014"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PTDC\/BBB-BQB\/3494\/2014"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001871","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001871","name":"Funda\u00e7\u00e3o para a Ci\u00eancia e a Tecnologia","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["CEECIND\/02961\/2017"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CEECIND\/02961\/2017"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001871","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Cholesterol is responsible for the plasticity of plasma membranes and is involved in physiological and pathophysiological responses. Cholesterol homeostasis is regulated by oxysterols, such as 25-hydroxycholesterol. The presence of 25-hydroxycholesterol at the membrane level has been shown to interfere with several viruses\u2019 entry into their target cells. We used atomic force microscopy to assess the effect of 25-hydroxycholesterol on different properties of supported lipid bilayers with controlled lipid compositions. In particular, we showed that 25-hydroxycholesterol inhibits the lipid-condensing effects of cholesterol, rendering the bilayers less rigid. This study indicates that the inclusion of 25-hydroxycholesterol in plasma membranes or the conversion of part of their cholesterol content into 25-hydroxycholesterol leads to morphological alterations of the sphingomyelin (SM)-enriched domains and promotes lipid packing inhomogeneities. These changes culminate in membrane stiffness variations.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms22052574","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,4]],"date-time":"2021-03-04T21:58:07Z","timestamp":1614895087000},"page":"2574","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":21,"title":["25-Hydroxycholesterol Effect on Membrane Structure and Mechanical Properties"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"22","author":[{"given":"Marco M.","family":"Domingues","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-028 Lisbon, Portugal"}]},{"given":"B\u00e1rbara","family":"Gomes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-028 Lisbon, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Axel","family":"Hollmann","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centro de Investigaci\u00f3n en Biof\u00edsica Aplicada y Alimentos (CIBAAL), Universidad Nacional de Santiago Del Estero-CONICET, Santiago del Estero 4206, Argentina"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0580-0475","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nuno C.","family":"Santos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-028 Lisbon, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"38","DOI":"10.1016\/j.plipres.2015.04.003","article-title":"Membrane lipid therapy: Modulation of the cell membrane composition and structure as a molecular base for drug discovery and new disease treatment","volume":"59","author":"Busquets","year":"2015","journal-title":"Prog. 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