What is the effect of cholesterol on membrane fluidity at moderate temperatures?

Understand the Problem

The question is asking about how cholesterol affects the fluidity of biological membranes at moderate temperatures. It is specifically looking for a relationship between cholesterol and the behavior of cell membranes.

Answer

Cholesterol decreases fluidity at moderate temperatures.

Cholesterol decreases membrane fluidity at moderate (and higher) temperatures.

Answer for screen readers

Cholesterol decreases membrane fluidity at moderate (and higher) temperatures.

More Information

At moderate temperatures, cholesterol's rigid structure inserts between the phospholipid molecules in cell membranes. This disrupts the regular packing of phospholipids, thereby reducing membrane fluidity.

Tips

Misunderstanding cholesterol's buffering role; it stabilizes membrane fluidity against temperature changes, but affects fluidity differently depending on whether the temperature is high or low.

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