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Cholesterol's Role in the Membrane

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Cholesterol sits alongside membrane phospholipids and buffers the effect of temperature, keeping the membrane fluid at low temperatures and less fluid at high ones.

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Animal cell membranes hold cholesterol between phospholipid tails, widening the temperature range across which the membrane still functions.

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Cholesterol moderates fluidity in both directions at once — a buffer, not a fluidizer or stiffener alone.

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