Mobility of water bound to biological membranes. A proton NMR relaxation study

Comparative 1H NMR studies of saturation transfer in copolymer gels and mouse lenses

Saturation transfer in cross-linked copolymer gels and excised intact and perforating trauma-induced cataract mouse lenses (4- or 8-week-old) were studied using intermolecular cross-relaxation rates (1/T(IS)(H(2)O); 1/T(IS)), monitored with f(2)-irradiation at -8.79, -4.00, and 7.13 ppm (gammaH(2)/2pi approximately 69 Hz). [1] The 1/T(IS)(7.13 ppm) vs dry weight [W (%)] profiles for hydrophilic copolymer gels were far steeper than those for hydrophobic copolymer gels, indicating the participation of an amount of bound water and a number of copolymer hydroxyl groups in the saturation transfer process. In contrast, the 1/T(IS)(-8.79 ppm) vs W (%) profiles exhibited little difference between the hydrophilic and hydrophobic copolymer gels, indicating the major participation of molecular rigidity, i.e. W (%) in the saturation transfer process. [2] The 1/T(IS)(7.13 ppm) values for cataractous mouse lenses were larger than those for intact lenses, indicating the formation of large, immobile lens protein associates or aggregates containing a sufficient amount of bound water for the saturation transfer. [3] The 1/T(IS)(7.13 ppm) vs W (%) profiles for the hydrophilic copolymer gels exhibited similar characteristics to the intact and cataractous mouse lenses with regard to the saturation transfer process.

Role of interfacial structured water in membrane: osmotic properties of L-alpha-egg lecithin liposomes

The role of large amounts of membrane-bound water in regulating various functions of the membrane is not clear at present. We have investigated the effect of perturbing the interfacial water structure on the osmotic shrinkage properties, such as water permeability and extent of shrinkage of egg lecithin liposomes. Water structure was perturbed by a series of reagents which have been earlier reported to affect phase transition of dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine liposomes by perturbing interfacial water structure. Anomalous variations of osmotic shrinkage properties with concentration of structure maker and breaker reagents have been interpreted to arise from concentration-dependent structural transitions of the ordered water at the membrane-aqueous interface. Various modes of interaction of these reagents on interfacial structured water have been suggested. Influence of molecular size and functional groups on the molecule in actions of some structure makers and breakers were also observed.

Frequency dependence of water proton longitudinal nuclear magnetic relaxation times in mouse tissues at 20 degrees C

We have measured the proton longitudinal relaxation times of tissue water of healthy and tumor-bearing mice as a function of the Larmor frequency in the range 6.7 to 90 MHz. These data can be rationalized according to T1-1 = A v -1/2 +B, where A and B are constants specific to the tissue species. We present an interpretation of this frequency dependence within the Fast Exchange Two States model. It is shown that involving a distribution of correlation times for water proton-proton interaction does not yield consistent results, whereas a physically meaningful translational diffusion model pertinent to the dipolar interaction between water protons and macromolecules protons leads to the required frequency dependence. Essentially tissues would differ by the 'bound' versus 'free' proportion, or by structural properties of cells, rather than by the time-scales governing water motion.

The spin-lattice relaxation time in the blood of healthy subjects and patients with malignant blood disease

To establish which constituents of blood influence the NMR relaxation time T1 of water protons in malignant blood diseases, 55 blood samples were studied (20 from healthy donors and 35 from patients with leukaemia, myelofibrosis and multiple myeloma). Relaxation time measurements were performed at 19.8 MHz resonance frequency and at a temperature of 33 +/- 1 degree C. There is a significant elevation of T1 over the normal level in whole blood, packed cells, and plasma of patients with blood disease. The relaxation rate R1 (= 1/T1) depends very strongly on the ratio of dry solids to water, which is in accordance with the three-state fast-exchange relaxation model.

1H-NMR relaxation investigation of water bound to bovine rod outer segment disk membranes

Spin-lattice relaxation times T(1) in deuterated aqueous dispersions of lecithin and rod outer segment disk membranes were measured at various concentrations and temperatures. Fast chemical exchange between two loosely defined phases of water molecules was shown to fit the data, allowing the dynamic features of "bound" water and the hydration of the biological membrane to be evaluated. The state of the water was shown to be also involved in vision physiology.

Role of bound water in biological membrane structure: fluorescence and infrared studies

Bound water is a major component of biological membranes and is required for the structural stability of the lipid bilayer. It has also been postulated that it is involved in water transport, membrane fusion, and mobility of membrane proteins and lipids. We have measured the fluorescence emission of membrane-bound 1-anilino-8-naphthalenesulfonate (ANS) and the infrared spectra of membranes, both as a function of hydration. ANS fluorescence is sensitive to polarity and fluidity of the membrane-aqueous interface, while infrared absorption is sensitive to the hydrogen bonding and vibrational motion of water and membrane proteins and lipids. The fluorescence results provide evidence of increasing rigidity and/or decreasing polarity of the membrane-aqueous interface with removal of water. The membrane infrared spectra show prominent hydration-dependent changes in a number of bands with possible assignments to cholesterol (vinyl CH bend, OH stretch), protein (amide A, II, V), and bound water (OH stretch). Further characterization of the bound water should allow its incorporation into current models of membrane structure and give insight into the role of membrane hydration in cell surface function.

The plasma membrane consists of two polar-nonpolar-polar leaflets

The implications of a double polar-nonpolar-polar leaflet construction of the plasma membrane are investigated. Experimental data from transmission electron microscopic and enzymologic characterization of plasma membranes are advantageously interpreted in these terms compared to interpretation in terms of lipid bilayer. X-ray diffraction and electron spin resonance studies do not differentiate between the present and previous models for the structure of plasma membranes but electron spin resonance data that fail to indicate a statistical distribution of spin labels also fail to support the fluid mosaic model for cell membranes. Results from experiments involving vectorial digestion and labelling of plasma membranes as well as freeze fracture electron microscopic data are compatible with the present model. The molecular composition of the human erythrocyte membrane is investigated whereby the band III protein and glycophorin are suggested to be the structural proteins of the outer leaflet and the spectrins those of the inner leaflet.