Skip to main content
PMC home page
Biophysical Journal logoLink to Biophysical Journal
. 1991 Aug;60(2):456–466. doi: 10.1016/S0006-3495(91)82072-0

Kinetics of the barotropic ripple (P beta')/lamellar liquid crystal (L alpha) phase transition in fully hydrated dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC) monitored by time-resolved x-ray diffraction.

M Caffrey 1, J Hogan 1, A Mencke 1
PMCID: PMC1260083  PMID: 1912281

Abstract

We present here the first study of the use of a pressure-jump to induce the ripple (P beta')/lamellar liquid crystal (L alpha) phase transition in fully hydrated 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPC). The transition was monitored by using time-resolved x-ray diffraction (TRXRD). Applying a pressure-jump from atmospheric to 11.3 MPa (1640 psig, 111.6 atm) in 2.5 s induces the L alpha to P beta' phase transition which takes place in two stages. The lamellar repeat spacing initially increases from a value of 66.0 +/- 0.1 A (n = 4) to a maximum value of 70.3 +/- 0.8 A (n = 4) after 10 s and after a further 100-150 s decreases slightly to 68.5 +/- 0.3 A (n = 4). The reverse transition takes place following a pressure jump in 5.5 s from 11.3 MPa to atmospheric pressure. Again, the transition occurs in two stages with the repeat spacing steadily decreasing from an initial value of 68.5 +/- 0.3 A (n = 3) to a minimum value of 66.6 +/- 0.3 A (n = 3) after 50 s and then increasing by approximately 0.5 A over a period of 100 s. The transition temperature increases linearly with pressure up to 14.1 MPa in accordance with the Clapeyron relation, giving a dT/dP value of 0.285 degrees C/MPa (28.5 degrees C/kbar) and an associated volume change of 40 microliters/g. A dynamic compressibility of 0.13 +/- 0.01 A/MPa has been determined for the L alpha phase. This value is compared with the equilibrium compressibilities of bilayer and nonbilayer phases reported in the literature. The results suggest testable mechanisms for the pressure-induced transition involving changes in periodicity, phase hydration, chain order, and orientation. A more complete understanding of the transition mechanism will require improvement in detector spatial resolution and sensitivity, and data on the pressure sensitivity of phase hydration.

Full text

PDF
458

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Braganza L. F., Worcester D. L. Hydrostatic pressure induces hydrocarbon chain interdigitation in single-component phospholipid bilayers. Biochemistry. 1986 May 6;25(9):2591–2596. doi: 10.1021/bi00357a047. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Caffrey M., Bilderback D. H. Kinetics of the main phase transition of hydrated lecithin monitored by real-time X-ray diffraction. Biophys J. 1984 Mar;45(3):627–631. doi: 10.1016/S0006-3495(84)84201-0. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Caffrey M., Feigenson G. W. Influence of metal ions on the phase properties of phosphatidic acid in combination with natural and synthetic phosphatidylcholines: an X-ray diffraction study using synchrotron radiation. Biochemistry. 1984 Jan 17;23(2):323–331. doi: 10.1021/bi00297a023. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Caffrey M. Kinetics and mechanism of the lamellar gel/lamellar liquid-crystal and lamellar/inverted hexagonal phase transition in phosphatidylethanolamine: a real-time X-ray diffraction study using synchrotron radiation. Biochemistry. 1985 Aug 27;24(18):4826–4844. doi: 10.1021/bi00339a017. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Caffrey M. The study of lipid phase transition kinetics by time-resolved X-ray diffraction. Annu Rev Biophys Biophys Chem. 1989;18:159–186. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bb.18.060189.001111. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Chong P. L., Capes S., Wong P. T. Effects of hydrostatic pressure on the location of PRODAN in lipid bilayers: a FT-IR study. Biochemistry. 1989 Oct 17;28(21):8358–8363. doi: 10.1021/bi00447a014. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Gruner S. M. Time-resolved x-ray diffraction of biological materials. Science. 1987 Oct 16;238(4825):305–312. doi: 10.1126/science.3310232. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Janiak M. J., Small D. M., Shipley G. G. Nature of the Thermal pretransition of synthetic phospholipids: dimyristolyl- and dipalmitoyllecithin. Biochemistry. 1976 Oct 19;15(21):4575–4580. doi: 10.1021/bi00666a005. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Janiak M. J., Small D. M., Shipley G. G. Temperature and compositional dependence of the structure of hydrated dimyristoyl lecithin. J Biol Chem. 1979 Jul 10;254(13):6068–6078. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Johnson M. L., Winter T. C., Biltonen R. L. The measurement of the kinetics of lipid phase transitions: a volume-perturbation kinetic calorimeter. Anal Biochem. 1983 Jan;128(1):1–6. doi: 10.1016/0003-2697(83)90335-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Kamaya H., Ueda I., Moore P. S., Eyring H. Antagonism between high pressure and anesthetics in the thermal phase-transition of dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine bilayer. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1979 Jan 5;550(1):131–137. doi: 10.1016/0005-2736(79)90121-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Lentz B. R., Freire E., Biltonen R. L. Fluorescence and calorimetric studies of phase transitions in phosphatidylcholine multilayers: kinetics of the pretransition. Biochemistry. 1978 Oct 17;17(21):4475–4480. doi: 10.1021/bi00614a018. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Matuoka S., Kato S., Akiyama M., Amemiya Y., Hatta I. Temperature dependence of the ripple structure in dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine studied by synchrotron X-ray small-angle diffraction. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1990 Oct 5;1028(2):103–109. doi: 10.1016/0005-2736(90)90145-e. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Mencke A. P., Caffrey M. Kinetics and mechanism of the pressure-induced lamellar order/disorder transition in phosphatidylethanolamine: a time-resolved X-ray diffraction study. Biochemistry. 1991 Mar 5;30(9):2453–2463. doi: 10.1021/bi00223a023. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Nagle J. F., Wilkinson D. A. Dilatometric studies of the subtransition in dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine. Biochemistry. 1982 Aug 3;21(16):3817–3821. doi: 10.1021/bi00259a015. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Nagle J. F., Wilkinson D. A. Lecithin bilayers. Density measurement and molecular interactions. Biophys J. 1978 Aug;23(2):159–175. doi: 10.1016/S0006-3495(78)85441-1. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Needham D., Evans E. Structure and mechanical properties of giant lipid (DMPC) vesicle bilayers from 20 degrees C below to 10 degrees C above the liquid crystal-crystalline phase transition at 24 degrees C. Biochemistry. 1988 Oct 18;27(21):8261–8269. doi: 10.1021/bi00421a041. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Parsegian V. A. Dimensions of the "intermediate" phase of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine. Biophys J. 1983 Dec;44(3):413–415. doi: 10.1016/S0006-3495(83)84315-X. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Parsegian V. A., Fuller N., Rand R. P. Measured work of deformation and repulsion of lecithin bilayers. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1979 Jun;76(6):2750–2754. doi: 10.1073/pnas.76.6.2750. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Seddon J. M. Structure of the inverted hexagonal (HII) phase, and non-lamellar phase transitions of lipids. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1990 Feb 28;1031(1):1–69. doi: 10.1016/0304-4157(90)90002-t. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Stamatoff J., Guillon D., Powers L., Cladis P., Aadsen D. X-ray diffraction measurements of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine as a function of pressure. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1978 Nov 29;85(2):724–728. doi: 10.1016/0006-291x(78)91221-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Tardieu A., Luzzati V., Reman F. C. Structure and polymorphism of the hydrocarbon chains of lipids: a study of lecithin-water phases. J Mol Biol. 1973 Apr 25;75(4):711–733. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(73)90303-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Tosh R. E., Collings P. J. High pressure volumetric measurements in dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine bilayers. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1986 Jul 10;859(1):10–14. doi: 10.1016/0005-2736(86)90312-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Wack DC, Webb WW. Measurements of modulated lamellar P beta ' phases of interacting lipid membranes. Phys Rev Lett. 1988 Sep 5;61(10):1210–1213. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.61.1210. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Wack DC, Webb WW. Synchrotron x-ray study of the modulated lamellar phase P beta ' in the lecithin-water system. Phys Rev A Gen Phys. 1989 Sep 1;40(5):2712–2730. doi: 10.1103/physreva.40.2712. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Winter R., Xie C. L., Jonas J., Thiyagarajan P., Wong P. T. High-pressure small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) study of 1,2-dielaidoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine bilayers. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1989 Jun 26;982(1):85–88. doi: 10.1016/0005-2736(89)90177-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Wong P. T., Huang C. H. Structural aspects of pressure effects on infrared spectra of mixed-chain phosphatidylcholine assemblies in D2O. Biochemistry. 1989 Feb 7;28(3):1259–1263. doi: 10.1021/bi00429a046. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Wong P. T., Mantsch H. H. Effects of hydrostatic pressure on the molecular structure and endothermic phase transitions of phosphatidylcholine bilayers: a Raman scattering study. Biochemistry. 1985 Jul 16;24(15):4091–4096. doi: 10.1021/bi00336a043. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Wong P. T., Mantsch H. H. Reorientational and conformational ordering processes at elevated pressures in 1,2-dioleoyl phosphatidylcholine: a Raman and infrared spectroscopic study. Biophys J. 1988 Nov;54(5):781–790. doi: 10.1016/S0006-3495(88)83016-9. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Wong P. T. Raman spectroscopy of thermotropic and high-pressure phases of aqueous phospholipid dispersions. Annu Rev Biophys Bioeng. 1984;13:1–24. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bb.13.060184.000245. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Wu W. G., Chong P. L., Huang C. H. Pressure effect on the rate of crystalline phase formation of L-alpha-dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholines in multilamellar dispersions. Biophys J. 1985 Feb;47(2 Pt 1):237–242. doi: 10.1016/s0006-3495(85)83896-0. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Biophysical Journal are provided here courtesy of The Biophysical Society

RESOURCES