title: Solvation of oxygen in lecithin bilayers.
abstract: The solubility of oxygen in dipalmitoyllecithin (DPL) and paraffinc C19 has been investigated by measurement of the enhanced proton relaxation rates under the influence of oxygen pressure. The paraffin shows a noticeable effect in the rotator phase, but not so in the crystalline phase. tin contrast to paraffins, both phases of DPL-bilayers dissolve oxygen, but the solubility in the liquid-crystalline phase is greater than in the crystalline state by a factor approximately equal to 3. Furthermore, the experiments indicate a distribution of electron relaxation times in the crystalline phase in contrast to the liquid-crystalline phase. A possible explanation of this behaviour is a multiphase structure of the "crystalline' lamellae. The biological relevance of thbse results could be a triggering of the gas-transport by the alveolar lining of lungs, if cyclic phase transitions occur during the breathing-cycle.
mesh_terms: D001665:Binding Sites; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008433:Mathematics; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D010100:Oxygen; D010313:Partial Pressure; D010713:Phosphatidylcholines; D011663:Pulmonary Surfactants; D012995:Solubility; D013010:Sonication; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D010713:Phosphatidylcholines; D011663:Pulmonary Surfactants; D010100:Oxygen