Unperturbed hydrocarbon chains and liquid phase bilayer lipid chains: a computer simulation study.

In this work, the properties of saturated and unsaturated fatty acid acyl chains 16:0, 18:0, 18:1(n-9)cis, 18:2(n-6)cis, 18:3(n-3)cis, 18:4(n-3)cis, 18:5(n-3)cis, 20:4(n-6)cis, 20:5(n-3)cis and 22:6(n-3)cis in a bilayer liquid crystalline state and similar hydrocarbon chains (with CH[Formula: see text] terminal groups instead of C=O groups) in the unperturbed state characterised by a lack of long-range interaction were investigated. The unperturbed hydrocarbon chains were modelled by Monte Carlo simulations at temperature [Formula: see text] K; sixteen fully hydrated homogeneous liquid crystalline phosphatidylcholine bilayers containing these chains were studied by molecular dynamics simulations at the same temperature. To eliminate effects of the simulation parameters, the molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo simulations were carried out using the same structural data and force field coefficients. From these computer simulations, the average distances between terminal carbon atoms of the chains (end-to-end distances) were calculated and compared. The trends in the end-to-end distances obtained for the unperturbed chains were found to be qualitatively similar to those obtained for the same lipid chains in the bilayers. So, for understanding of a number of processes in biological membranes (e.g., changes in fatty acid composition caused by environmental changes such as temperature and pressure), it is possible to use, at least as a first approximation, the relationships between the structure and properties for unperturbed or isolated hydrocarbon chains.

The effect of surfactant crystallization on partial coalescence in O/W emulsions.

Partial coalescence is a ubiquitous instability in emulsions whose dispersed phase is partially crystallized. When emulsions are stabilized with proteins, interfacial stiffness and long-range repulsive surface forces hinder this type of instability. The addition of low molecular weight surfactants modifies the interfacial properties and surface forces, generally promoting partial coalescence. In the present work, various surfactants (Tween® 80, palmitic acid and monoglycerides) differing in their crystallization temperature were probed for their ability to induce partial coalescence in model O/W emulsions stabilized by sodium caseinate. The initially fluid emulsions were submitted to a tempering cycle leading to the gelation of the system. The extent of partial coalescence was evaluated by measuring the bulk storage modulus. DSC was used to determine the melting range of the oil phase and surfactants, while polarized microscopy, Raman imaging, and surface rheology measurements were performed to characterize the oil/water interface. The experimental conditions in terms of droplet size, surfactant-to-protein molar ratio and tempering history favoring partial coalescence were first explored in presence of Tween® 80. We show that partial coalescence is rather marginal when crystallizable surfactants are added, and pronounced with liquid surfactants. The phenomena underlying this result, especially interfacial crystallization of surfactants, are evidenced and discussed.

A DSC and FTIR spectroscopic study of the effects of the epimeric 4-cholesten-3-ols and 4-cholesten-3-one on the thermotropic phase behaviour and organization of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine bilayer membranes: comparison with their 5-cholesten analogues.

We present the results of a comparative differential calorimetric and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic study of the effect of cholesterol and five of its analogues on the thermotropic phase behaviour and organization of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine bilayer membranes. These sterols/steroids differ in both the nature and stereochemistry of the polar head group at C3 (ßOH, αOH or C=O) and in the position of the double bond (C4-C5 in ring A or C5-C6 in ring B). In the three Δ(5) sterols/steroid series, the concentration of these compounds required to abolish the DPPC pretransition, inversely related to their relative ability to disorder gel state DPPC bilayers, decreases in the order ßOH>αOH>C=O and these differences in concentration are significant. However, in the Δ(4) series, these concentrations are more similar, regardless of polar head group nature or stereochemistry. Similarly, the residual enthalpy of the main phase transition of DPPC at 50 mol.% sterol/steroid, which is inversely related to the miscibility of these compounds in the DPPC bilayer, also increases in the order ßOH>αOH>C=O, but this effect is attenuated in the Δ(4) as opposed to the Δ(5) series. Both of these results indicate that the presence of a double bond at C4-C5 in ring A, as compared to a C5-C6 double bond in ring B, reduces the effect of variations in the structure of the polar group at C3 on the properties of the host DPPC bilayer. The movement of the double bond from C5 to C4 in the two sterol pairs results in a greater decrease in the temperature and enthalpy of both the pretransition and the main phase transition, whereas the opposite result is observed in the ketosteroid pair. Similarly, the ability of these compounds to order the DPPC hydrocarbon chains decreases in the order ßOH>αOH>C=O in both series of compounds, but in the two sterol pairs, hydrocarbon chain ordering is greater for the Δ(5) than the Δ(4) sterols, whereas the opposite is the case for the steroid pair. All of these results indicate that the typical effects of sterols/steroids in increasing the packing density and thermal stability of fluid lipid bilayers are optimal when an OH group rather than C=O group is present at C3, and that this OH group is more effective in the equatorial rather than the axial orientation. We can explain all of our sterol results by noting that the shift of the double bond from Δ(5) to Δ(4) introduces of a bend in ring A, which in turn destroys the coplanarity of the steroid fused ring system and reduces the goodness of sterol packing in the host DPPC bilayer. However, this conformational change should also occur in the ketosteroid pair, yet our experimental results indicate that the presence of the Δ(4) double bond is less disruptive than a double bond at Δ(5). We suggest that the presence of keto-enol tautomerism in the conjugated Δ(4) ketosteroid, but not in the nonconjugated Δ(5) compound, may provide additional H-bonding opportunities to adjacent DPPC molecules in the bilayer, which can overcome the unfavourable conformational change in ring A induced by the Δ(4) double bond.