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. 1972 Nov;12(11):1533–1548. doi: 10.1016/s0006-3495(72)86180-0

Influence of Electrolytes on the Thicknesses of the Phospholipid Bilayers of Lamellar Lecithin Mesophases

Melvin H Gottleb, E D Eanes
PMCID: PMC1484194  PMID: 4642226

Abstract

Over a wide range of water contents, aqueous lecithin-water mixtures are mesophases in which lecithin bilayers alternate with water layers. This paper reports on low-angle X-ray diffraction measurements of the effects of electrolytes, at 1.0 N concentration, on the thicknesses of the bilayers in mesophases formed by the synthetic lecithin: 1-octadec-9-enyl-2-hexadecylglycerophosphocholine. With solutions of LiCl, NaCl, Na2SO4, KCl, and CsCl, the bilayer thicknesses are less than with pure water. The maximum reduction in bilayer thickness with these electrolytes is about 10% and occurs with mesophases of high content of KCl and CsCl solutions. With HCl solutions the bilayer thicknesses are about 5% greater than with pure water, and with CaCl2 solutions the bilayer thicknesses are about the same as with pure water. The maximum amount of solution which can be mixed with lecithin before a second, purely aqueous phase is formed is also affected by electrolytes, the order for the various 1.0 N solutions being CsCl = KCl > NaCl > Na2SO4 > (pure water) = LiCl > CaCl2.

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Selected References

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

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