Which of the following forms mixed bilayers with phosphoglycerides?
Phosphoglycerides and sphingomyelin can co-assemble into stable mixed bilayers because both possess two hydrophobic tails and cylindrical geometry compatible with lamellar phase, unlike lysophospholipids that form micelles or cardiolipin that favors hexagonal inverted phases due to small headgroup. Sphingomyelin's fatty acid amidated to sphingosine resembles phosphatidylcholine's diacylglycerol moiety in hydrophobic thickness, allowing van der Waals matching and hydrophobic mismatch avoidance, enabling fluid mosaic continuity. Moreover sphingomyelin synthesis itself links the two classes: sphi
Ref: Alberts et al., Molecular Biology of the Cell, 7th ed., Chapter 10: Mixed Bilayers of Sphingomyelin.