Ripple Phase Stability in Lipid Systems that Form Interdigitated Bilayers

Real-time X-ray diffraction study at different scan rates of phase transitions for dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine in KSCN

Multibilayer arrays of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) in 1 M KSCN were characterized using real-time X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry. A phase transition sequence was observed as a function of increasing temperature which involved changes from the interdigitated subgel (Lc(inter)) to interdigitated gel (L beta(inter)) to disordered (L alpha) bilayer states. The phase transition mechanisms were unambiguously determined by comparison of results from fast and slow scans. The Lc(inter)-->L beta(inter) phase transition was shown to involve a continuous change in acyl chain spacing between the rectangular subgel acyl chain unit cell into an hexagonal gel acyl chain unit cell. The mechanism is similar to that for subgel to gel state transitions involving non-interdigitated DPPC bilayers.

Effects of fibrinogens on phase transitions in lipid model membrane systems

An abnormal fibrinogen that caused aggregation of red blood cells (RBC) in a patient with gangrene was examined by real-time X-ray diffraction to determine its effects on dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) and 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoylphosphatidylethanolamine (POPE) phase transitions. Similar studies were done with normal fibrinogen and results were compared. Both types of fibrinogen slightly increased the L alpha-->HII phase transition temperature and the HII phase parameters for POPE, while neither fibrinogen significantly affected the order-disordered acyl chain transitions in the lipid bilayer phase. However, fibrinogen differentially influenced the bilayer unit cell parameter of the gel and disordered bilayer and the gel state ripple phase. These results can be interpreted as indicating that fibrinogen has little effect on the balance of gel and disordered acyl chains in the lipid bilayer, but may influence membrane functions dependent on non-bilayer phases.