Evidence is accumulating that lipids play important roles in permeabilization of the
mitochondria outer membrane (MOM) at the early stage of apoptosis. Lamellar
phosphatidylcholine (PC) and nonlamellar phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) lipids are the
major membrane components of the MOM. Cardiolipin (CL), the characteristic lipid from the
mitochondrial inner membrane, is another nonlamellar lipid recently shown to play a role in
MOM permeabilization. We investigate the effect of these three key lipids on the gating …