Alignment and defect structures in oriented phosphatidylcholine multilayers.
The alignment of dilauryl-, dimyristoyl-, and dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine at various water concentrations into large oriented monodomain multilayers by annealing at elevated temperatures (Powers and Clark, 1975, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 72:840; Powers and Pershan. 1977. Biophys. J. 20:137) is accompanied by the formation and subsequent dissolution of various defect structures. Some of these defects appear similar to those observed in thermotropic and other lyotropic liquid crystals, reflecting the lamellar structure of these materials. The formation and evolution of defects during the alignment of the lipids into the defect-free, monodomain, multilamellar geometry is studied using polarized microscopy. A combination of polarized and dark-field microscopy facilitated characterization of the defects; specific structural models are proposed. A new alignment technique involving compression and dilation of the lipid, which effects sample alignment at temperatures that are lower than those required by the Powers technique, is described. Lower temperature alignment avoids thermal decomposition that will sometimes occur if the lipid is maintained at elevated temperatures for prolonged periods. With this technique, samples (80 micrometer thick) of dilaurylphosphatidylcholine with 20% water by weight were aligned at room temperature.
D055598:Chemical Phenomena; D002621:Chemistry; D003460:Crystallization; D004134:Dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine; D006358:Hot Temperature; D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D008859:Microscopy, Polarization; D010713:Phosphatidylcholines; D011663:Pulmonary Surfactants; D014867:Water
D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D010713:Phosphatidylcholines; D011663:Pulmonary Surfactants; D014867:Water; C015153:1,2-dilauroylphosphatidylcholine; D004134:Dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine
Annu Rev Biophys Bioeng. 1976;5:205-38
182064
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1978 Apr;75(4):1792-5
16592517
Biochemistry. 1978 Oct 17;17(21):4475-80
581473
Biophys J. 1978 Sep;23(3):427-49
698346
Biophys J. 1977 May;18(2):209-30
861359
Biophys J. 1977 Nov;20(2):137-52
911978
Biochemistry. 1976 Oct 19;15(21):4575-80
974077
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1975 Mar;72(3):840-3
1055381
Q Rev Biophys. 1975 May;8(2):185-235
1103214
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1969 Sep;64(1):13-9
4312747
Biochim Biophys Acta. 1970 Mar 10;202(2):399-402
4315587
J Mol Biol. 1971 Jul 14;59(1):77-98
4326898
J Mol Biol. 1974 Jun 25;86(2):309-24
4472346
J Mol Biol. 1973 Apr 25;75(4):711-33
4738730
J Mol Biol. 1974 May 15;85(2):249-77
4836284
Nat New Biol. 1971 Mar 17;230(11):69-72
5279040
Nature. 1968 Mar 16;217(5133):1028-30
5643526
Nature. 1968 Jun 15;218(5146):1031-4
5656617
Nature. 1968 Nov 9;220(5167):577-8
5686728
J Lipid Res. 1967 Nov;8(6):551-7
6057484
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1978 Jun;75(6):2759-63
275845