» Articles » PMID: 2009353

Structure of an Adsorbed Dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine Bilayer Measured with Specular Reflection of Neutrons

Overview
Journal Biophys J
Publisher Cell Press
Specialty Biophysics
Date 1991 Feb 1
PMID 2009353
Citations 120
Authors
Affiliations
Soon will be listed here.
Abstract

Using specular reflection of neutrons, we investigate for the first time the structure of a single dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine bilayer adsorbed to a planar quartz surface in an aqueous environment. We demonstrate that the bilayer is strongly adsorbed to the quartz surface and is stable to phase state changes as well as exchange of the bulk aqueous phase. Our results show that the main phase transition is between the L alpha phase and the metastable L beta'* phase, with formation of the P beta' ripple phase prevented by lateral stress on the adsorbed bilayer. By performing contrast variation experiments, we are able to elucidate substantial detail in the interfacial structure. We measure a bilayer thickness of 43.0 +/- 1.5 A in the L alpha phase (T = 31 degrees C) and 46.0 +/- 1.5 A in the L beta'* phase (T = 20 degrees C). The polar head group is 8.0 +/- 1.5 A thick in the L alpha phase. The water layer between the quartz and bilayer is 30 +/- 10 A for the lipid in both the L alpha and L'* phase. Our results agree well with those previously reported from experiments using lipid vesicles and monolayers, thus establishing the feasibility of our experimental methods.

Citing Articles

Melittin-Induced Structural Transformations in DMPG and DMPS Lipid Membranes: A Langmuir Monolayer and AFM Study.

Juhaniewicz-Debinska J Molecules. 2025; 29(24.

PMID: 39770152 PMC: 11677270. DOI: 10.3390/molecules29246064.


CHARMM-GUI Multicomponent Assembler for modeling and simulation of complex multicomponent systems.

Kern N, Lee J, Choi Y, Im W Nat Commun. 2024; 15(1):5459.

PMID: 38937468 PMC: 11211406. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-49700-4.


Forces and Flows at Cell Surfaces.

Honerkamp-Smith A J Membr Biol. 2023; 256(4-6):331-340.

PMID: 37773346 PMC: 10947748. DOI: 10.1007/s00232-023-00293-x.


Fluorophore position of headgroup-labeled Gb glycosphingolipids in lipid bilayers.

Socrier L, Sharma A, Chen T, Flato K, Kettelhoit K, Enderlein J Biophys J. 2023; 122(20):4104-4112.

PMID: 37735870 PMC: 10598288. DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2023.09.010.


Spatz: the time-of-flight neutron reflectometer with vertical sample geometry at the OPAL research reactor.

Le Brun A, Huang T, Pullen S, Nelson A, Spedding J, Holt S J Appl Crystallogr. 2023; 56(Pt 1):18-25.

PMID: 36777140 PMC: 9901927. DOI: 10.1107/S160057672201086X.


References
1.
Janiak M, Small D, Shipley G . Nature of the Thermal pretransition of synthetic phospholipids: dimyristolyl- and dipalmitoyllecithin. Biochemistry. 1976; 15(21):4575-80. DOI: 10.1021/bi00666a005. View

2.
Buldt G, Gally H, Seelig A, Seelig J, Zaccai G . Neutron diffraction studies on selectively deuterated phospholipid bilayers. Nature. 1978; 271(5641):182-4. DOI: 10.1038/271182a0. View

3.
Laggner P, Gotto Jr A, Morrisett J . Structure of the dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine vesicle and the complex formed by its interaction with apolipoprotein C-III: X-ray small-angle scattering studies. Biochemistry. 1979; 18(1):164-71. DOI: 10.1021/bi00568a025. View

4.
Janiak M, Small D, Shipley G . Temperature and compositional dependence of the structure of hydrated dimyristoyl lecithin. J Biol Chem. 1979; 254(13):6068-78. View

5.
Buldt G, Gally H, Seelig J, Zaccai G . Neutron diffraction studies on phosphatidylcholine model membranes. I. Head group conformation. J Mol Biol. 1979; 134(4):673-91. DOI: 10.1016/0022-2836(79)90479-0. View