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. 1991 Mar;59(3):538–546. doi: 10.1016/S0006-3495(91)82270-6

The hydration pressure between lipid bilayers. Comparison of measurements using x-ray diffraction and calorimetry.

S A Simon 1, C A Fink 1, A K Kenworthy 1, T J McIntosh 1
PMCID: PMC1281219  PMID: 2049518

Abstract

The hydration pressure between dipalmitoyl phosphatidyl-N,N-dimethylethanolamine (DPPE-Me2) bilayers has been analyzed by both x-ray diffraction measurements of osmotically stressed liposomes and by differential scanning calorimetry. By the x-ray method, we obtain a magnitude (Po) and decay length (lambda) for the hydration pressure which are both quite similar to those found for bilayers of other zwitterionic lipids, such as phosphatidylcholines. That is, x-ray analysis of DPPE-Me2 in the gel phase gives lambda = 1.3 A, the same as that previously measured for the analogous gel phase lipid dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC), and Po = 3.9 x 10(9) dyn/cm2, which is in excellent agreement with the value of 3.6 x 10(9) dyn/cm2 calculated from the measured Volta potential of DPPE-Me2 monolayers in equilibrium with liposomes. These results indicate that the removal of one methyl group to convert DPPC to DPPE-Me2 does not markedly alter the range or magnitude of the hydration pressure. Calorimetry shows that the main gel to liquid-crystalline phase transition temperature of DPPE-Me2 is approximately constant for water contents ranging from 80 to 10 water molecules per lipid molecule, but increases monotonically with decreasing water content below 10 waters per lipid. A theoretical fit to these temperature vs. water content data predicts lambda = 6.7 A. The difference in observed values of lambda for x-ray and calorimetry measurements can be explained by effects on the thermograms of additional intra- and intermolecular interactions which occur at low water contents where apposing bilayers are in contact. We conclude that, although calorimetry provides important data on the energetics of bilayer hydration, it is difficult to obtain quantitative information on the hydration pressure from this technique.

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Selected References

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