title: Differential scanning calorimetric study of a homologous series of fully hydrated saturated mixed-chain C(X):C(X + 6) phosphatidylcholines.
abstract: The successive high-resolution differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) thermograms for aqueous dispersions of a homologous series of mixed-chain phosphatidylcholines, C(X):C(X + 6)PC, have been recorded and analyzed. In this series of saturated mixed-chain phosphatidylcholines, the total number of carbon atoms in the sn-1 acyl chain increases from 11 to 20, and the sn-2 acyl chain is always 6 methylene units longer than the sn-1 acyl chain. In the initial heating DSC thermograms, two prominent endothermic transitions are detected for all the samples prepared from the various C(X):C(X + 6)PCs except C(12):C(18)PC. In contrast, a single exothermic transition is observed on cooling for all the samples except C(13):C(19)PC. The temperature difference between the two endothermic transitions increases linearly as the acyl chain length of C(X):C(X + 6)PC becomes progressively longer. Interestingly, the main phase transition occurs before the subtransition for C(11):C(17)PC dispersions. Our DSC data further demonstrate that the thermodynamic parameters (Tm, delta H, and delta S) associated with the main phase transition for fully hydrated C(13):C(19)PC and other identical MW phosphatidylcholines are inversely related to the corresponding values of the chain-length inequivalence (delta C/CL) for these lipids. This linear relationship can be employed to map the Tm values for aqueous dispersions prepared from a large number of mixed-chain phosphatidylcholines whose values of delta C/CL are within the range of 0.1-0.4.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, University of Virginia, Charlottesville 22908.
authors.forename: Z Q
authors.initials: ZQ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: H N
authors.initials: HN
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D002152:Calorimetry, Differential Scanning; D008051:Lipid Bilayers / Q000737:chemistry; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D010713:Phosphatidylcholines / Q000737:chemistry*; D013816:Thermodynamics; D014867:Water
chemical_list: D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D010713:Phosphatidylcholines; D014867:Water