Biomedical subjects

Diana Bach

Publications and source records attributed to Diana Bach.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2003

Novel properties of cholesterol-dioleoylphosphatidylcholine mixtures.

We have studied the properties of mixtures of cholesterol with dioleoylphosphatidylcholine (DOPC), and with several other phospholipids, including 1-stearoyl-2-oleoylphosphatidylcholine (SOPC) and dioleoleoylphosphatidylserine (DOPS), as a function of cholesterol molar fraction and of temperature. Mixtures of DOPC with a cholesterol molar fraction of 0.4 or greater display polymorphic behavior. This polymorphism includes the formation of structures that give rise to isotropic peaks in 31P NMR at cholesterol molar fractions between 0.4 and 0.6, dependent on the thermal history of the sample. Cryo-electron microscopy studies demonstrate the formation of small globular aggregates that would contribute to a narrowing of the 31P NMR powder pattern. At molar fraction cholesterol 0.6 and higher and at temperatures above 70 degrees C, the mixtures with DOPC convert to the hexagonal phase. Lipid polymorphism is accompanied by the phase separation of cholesterol crystals in the anhydrous form and/or the monohydrate form. The crystals that are formed have substantially altered kinetics of hydration and dehydration, compared with both pure cholesterol monohydrate crystals and with crystals formed in the presence of the other phospholipids that do not form the hexagonal phase in the presence of cholesterol. This fact demonstrates that these cholesterol crystals are in intimate contact with the DOPC phospholipid and are not present as morphologically separate structures.

Calorimetry, Differential Scanning↗

PubMed2003

Phospholipid/cholesterol model membranes: formation of cholesterol crystallites.

Experimental data that define conditions under which cholesterol crystallites form in cholesterol/phospholipid model membranes are reviewed. Structural features of the phospholipids that determine cholesterol crystallization include the length and degree of unsaturation of the acyl chains, the presence of charge on the headgroups and interheadgroup hydrogen bonds.

Calorimetry, Differential Scanning↗

PubMed2002

Properties of mixtures of cholesterol with phosphatidylcholine or with phosphatidylserine studied by (13)C magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance.

The behavior of cholesterol is different in mixtures with phosphatidylcholine as compared with phosphatidylserine. In (13)C cross polarization/magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance spectra, resonance peaks of the vinylic carbons of cholesterol are a doublet in samples containing 0.3 or 0.5 mol fraction cholesterol with 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl phosphatidylserine (POPS) or in cholesterol monohydrate crystals, but a singlet with mixtures of cholesterol and 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl phosphatidylcholine (POPC). At these molar fractions of cholesterol with POPS, resonances of the C-18 of cholesterol appear at the same chemical shifts as in pure cholesterol monohydrate crystals. These resonances do not appear in samples of POPS with 0.2 mol fraction cholesterol or with POPC up to 0.5 mol fraction cholesterol. In addition, there is another resonance from the cholesterol C18 that appears in all of the mixtures of phospholipid and cholesterol but not in pure cholesterol monohydrate crystals. Using direct polarization, the fraction of cholesterol present as crystallites in POPS with 0.5 mol fraction cholesterol is found to be 80%, whereas with the same mol fraction of cholesterol and POPC none of the cholesterol is crystalline. After many hours of incubation, cholesterol monohydrate crystals in POPS undergo a change that results in an increase in the intensity of certain resonances of cholesterol monohydrate in (13)C cross polarization/magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance, indicating a rigidification of the C and D rings of cholesterol but not other regions of the molecule.

Biophysical Phenomena↗

PubMed2002

Interrelation between hydration and interheadgroup interaction in phospholipids.

The stability and the ionic conductivity of biological membranes and of lipid bilayers depend on their hydration. A small number of water molecules adhere strongly to the different residues of the lipid headgroups and are oriented by them. An additional number of water molecules adhere more weakly, preserving their freedom of rotation, but are essential for bestowing the thermodynamic properties of hydrated bilayers and of biological membranes. Around six water molecules are attached so strongly to the headgroups of different phospholipids (PL) that they are rendered unfreezable, or their freezing is extended over such a wide range of temperatures that it cannot be detected by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). If cholesterol is added to the PL above the concentration at which phase separation of the cholesterol phase occurs, the number of unfreezable water molecules per PL increases, indicating that the PL molecules on the border line between the two phases attach nearly twice as many water molecules as those in the middle of the phase. The orientation of about seven or eight water molecules attached to PL headgroups (seven to phosphatidyl serine (PS)) can be detected by polarized FTIR. The dichroic ratio of the successively adhering water molecules to the headgroup of PS fluctuates between 2.6 and 2.9, with the cumulative value of about 2.8 for the seven water molecules adhering to the headgroup of PS. In addition, in this case, the number of water molecules oriented by PL molecule residues on the border line of the two phases is much larger ( approximately 13 for PS). Interaction between two opposite negatively charged layers containing PS approaching each other may lead, after correlated electrostatic attraction, to change in the conformation of the headgroups with concomitant dehydration. This process is enhanced by Ca(+) and by Li(+), but it may also occur with Na(+) and K(+) as counter-ions if the layers are mutually aligned. This process may be important in the fusion mechanism of biological membranes, and its molecular modeling has been carried out.

1,2-Dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine↗