THE ORDER IN ORGANIZATION OF HYDROPHOBIC REGION OF BIOLOGICAL-MEMBRANES

We propose an improvement to the plunge sandwich freezing method based on the application of thin (about 5 mum) copper films. The method increases the freezing velocity at least for the cells contacting the metal surface. After fixing human erythrocytes and Escherichia coli cells by this method, we observed weakly visible oriented lines, extended by a few microns. on the fracture faces of cytoplasmic membranes. Optical diffractometry and computer processing revealed the existence of the periodicity on the fracture faces. The observed period was within the range of 200-250 angstrom for human erythrocyte cells and within 180-200 angstrom for E. coli cells.