Cholesterol mediates chitosan activity on phospholipid monolayers and Langmuir-Blodgett films.

The polysaccharide chitosan has been largely used in many biological applications as a fat and cholesterol reducer, bactericide agent, and wound healing material. While the efficacy for some of such uses is proven, little is known about the molecular-level interactions involved in these applications. In this study, we employ mixed Langmuir and Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films of negatively charged dimyristoyl phosphatidic acid (DMPA) and cholesterol as cell membrane models to investigate the role of cholesterol in the molecular-level action of chitosan.