Hydration of DOPC bilayers by differential scanning calorimetry

Structure and interactions of fully hydrated dioleoylphosphatidylcholine bilayers

This study focuses on dioleoylphosphatidylcholine (DOPC) bilayers near full hydration. Volumetric data and high-resolution synchrotron x-ray data are used in a method that compares DOPC with well determined gel phase dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC). The key structural quantity obtained is fully hydrated area/lipid A0 = 72.2 +/- 1.1 A2 at 30 degrees C, from which other quantities such as thickness of the bilayer are obtained. Data for samples over osmotic pressures from 0 to 56 atmospheres give an estimate for the area compressibility of KA = 188 dyn/cm. Obtaining the continuous scattering transform and electron density profiles requires correction for liquid crystal fluctuations. Quantitation of these fluctuations opens an experimental window on the fluctuation pressure, the primary repulsive interaction near full hydration. The fluctuation pressure decays exponentially with water spacing, in agreement with analytical results for soft confinement. However, the ratio of decay length lambda(fl) = 5.8 A to hydration pressure decay length lambda = 2.2 A is significantly larger than the value of 2 predicted by analytical theory and close to the ratio obtained in recent simulations. We also obtain the traditional osmotic pressure versus water spacing data. Our analysis of these data shows that estimates of the Hamaker parameter H and the bending modulus Kc are strongly coupled.

The effects of solutes on the freezing properties of and hydration forces in lipid lamellar phases

Quantitative deuterium nuclear magnetic resonance is used to study the freezing behavior of the water in phosphatidylcholine lamellar phases, and the effect upon it of dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), sorbitol, sucrose, and trehalose. When sufficient solute is present, an isotropic phase of concentrated aqueous solution may coexist with the lamellar phase at freezing temperatures. We determine the composition of both unfrozen phases as a function of temperature by using the intensity of the calibrated free induction decay signal (FID). The presence of DMSO or sorbitol increases the hydration of the lamellar phase at all freezing temperatures studied, and the size of the increase in hydration is comparable to that expected from their purely osmotic effect. Sucrose and trehalose increase the hydration of the lamellar phase, but, at concentrations of several molal, the increase is less than that which their purely osmotic effect would be expected to produce. A possible explanation is that very high volume fractions of sucrose and trehalose disrupt the water structure and thus reduce the repulsive hydration interaction between membranes. Because of their osmotic effect, all of the solutes studied reduced the intramembrane mechanical stresses produced in lamellar phases by freezing. Sucrose and trehalose at high concentrations produce a greater reduction than do the other solutes.

Hydration of polyethylene glycol-grafted liposomes

This study aimed to characterize the effect of polyethylene glycol of 2000 molecular weight (PEG2000) attached to a dialkylphosphatidic acid (dihexadecylphosphatidyl (DHP)-PEG2000) on the hydration and thermodynamic stability of lipid assemblies. Differential scanning calorimetry, densitometry, and ultrasound velocity and absorption measurements were used for thermodynamic and hydrational characterization. Using a differential scanning calorimetry technique we showed that each molecule of PEG2000 binds 136 +/- 4 molecules of water. For PEG2000 covalently attached to the lipid molecules organized in micelles, the water binding increases to 210 +/- 6 water molecules. This demonstrates that the two different structural configurations of the PEG2000, a random coil in the case of the free PEG and a brush in the case of DHP-PEG2000 micelles, differ in their hydration level. Ultrasound absorption changes in liposomes reflect mainly the heterophase fluctuations and packing defects in the lipid bilayer. The PEG-induced excess ultrasound absorption of the lipid bilayer at 7.7 MHz for PEG-lipid concentrations over 5 mol % indicates the increase in the relaxation time of the headgroup rotation due to PEG-PEG interactions. The adiabatic compressibility (calculated from ultrasound velocity and density) of the lipid bilayer of the liposome increases monotonically with PEG-lipid concentration up to approximately 7 mol %, reflecting release of water from the lipid headgroup region. Elimination of this water, induced by grafted PEG, leads to a decrease in bilayer defects and enhanced lateral packing of the phospholipid acyl chains. We assume that the dehydration of the lipid headgroup region in conjunction with the increase of the hydration of the outer layer by grafting PEG in brush configuration are responsible for increasing thermodynamic stability of the liposomes at 5-7 mol % of PEG-lipid. At higher PEG-lipid concentrations, compressibility and partial volume of the lipid phase of the samples decrease. This reflects the increase in hydration of the lipid headgroup region (up to five additional water molecules per lipid molecule for 12 mol % PEG-lipid) and the weakening of the bilayer packing due to the lateral repulsion of PEG chains.

Hydration of phospholipid bilayers in the presence and absence of cholesterol

Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used for determining the number of unfreezable water molecules per molecule of phosphatidylserine from bovine spinal cord (PS) or dimyristoyl phosphatidylserine (DMPS) and dimyristoyl phosphatidylcholine (DMPC), alone or in mixtures with cholesterol. It was assumed that the unfreezable water molecules are tightly bound to the phospholipid. It was found that when the phospholipids are in the gel state and in the absence of cholesterol, PS binds 2.5 water molecules, DMPS 3.8 water molecules and DMPC 3.5 water molecules. In the presence of cholesterol the number of water molecules bound increases in the region where phase separation of cholesterol takes place [D. Bach, Chem. Phys. Lipids 35 (1984) 385-392; E.J. Wachtel, N. Borochov, D. Bach, Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1066 (1991) 63-69; D. Bach, N. Borochov, E. Wacktel, Chem. Phys. Lipids, submitted].

Determination of DMPC hydration in the L(alpha) and L(beta') phases by 2H solid state NMR of D2O

The number of water molecules bound to the dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC) interface was investigated both in the fluid (L(alpha)) and gel (L(beta')) phases by solid state deuterium NMR of D2O. We determined that each DMPC molecule binds 9.7 +/- 0.5 and less than 4.3 +/- 0.5 D2O in the fluid and gel phases respectively. These results are accounted for by considering the number of DMPC binding sites as well as the molecular organization in each phase.

Hydration properties of lamellar and non-lamellar phases of phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine

Two of the most common phospholipids in biological membranes are phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE). Over a wide range of temperatures the PCs found in biological membranes form lamellar (bilayer) phases when dispersed in excess water, whereas PEs form either lamellar or hexagonal phases depending on their hydrocarbon chain composition. This paper details the hydration properties of lamellar and hexagonal phases formed by PCs and PEs, focusing on the energetics of hydration of these phases. For the hexagonal phase, the energy of bending the lipid monolayer is a critical term, with other contributions arising from the energies of hydrating the lipid headgroups and filling voids in the interstices in the hydrocarbon region. For the lamellar phase of PC, the water content is determined by a balance between the attractive van der Waals pressure and repulsive hydration and entropic (steric) pressures. In the case of PE bilayers, recent experiments demonstrate the presence of an additional strong, short-range attractive interaction, possibly due to hydrogen-bonded water interactions between N+ H3 groups in one bilayer and the PO4- groups in the apposing bilayer. This additional attractive pressure causes apposing PE bilayers to adhere strongly and to imbibe considerably less water than PC bilayers.

Effects of plant sterols on the hydration and phase behavior of DOPE/DOPC mixtures

Freeze-induced injury of protoplasts of non-acclimated rye and oat is associated with the formation of the inverted hexagonal (HII) phase in regions where the plasma membrane and various endomembranes are brought into close apposition as a result of freeze-induced dehydration. The influence of lipid composition and hydration on the propensity of mixtures of DOPE:DOPC containing either sterols or acylated steryl glucosides to form the HII phase was determined by DSC, freeze-fracture electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The addition of plant sterols to a mixture of DOPE/DOPC (either 1:1:1 or 1:1:2 mole ratio of DOPE/DOPC/sterols) reduced the total hydration of the mixture (expressed as wt% water) after desorption over a range of osmotic pressures of 2.8 to 286 MPa. However, most or all of the water remaining in the dehydrated lipid mixtures was associated predominantly with the phospholipids. Both sterols and acylated steryl glucosides significantly promoted both the dehydration-induced and thermally induced L alpha-->HII phase transitions in DOPE/DOPC mixtures however, acylated steryl glucosides were much more effective. In mixtures containing plant sterols, the HII phase occurred after dehydration at 20 MPa (20 degrees C), which resulted in a water content of 11.7 wt%. In contrast, mixtures containing acylated steryl glucosides were in the HII phase in excess water, i.e., they did not require dehydration to effect the L alpha-->HII phase transition. The results indicate that genotypic differences in the lipid composition of the plasma membrane of rye and oat leaves have a significant influence on the propensity for formation of the HII phase during freeze-induced dehydration.