Biomedical subjects

W K Subczynski

Publications and source records attributed to W K Subczynski.

40 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

PubMed1984

Diffusion of oxygen in water and hydrocarbons using an electron spin resonance spin-label technique.

The Smoluchowski equation for the bimolecular collision rate of dissolved oxygen molecules with spin labels yielded values for the diffusion constant of oxygen in water that are in agreement with the Stokes-Einstein equation (D infinity T/eta, where eta is the macroscopic viscosity) and with published values obtained by conventional methods. Heisenberg exchange at an interaction distance of 4.5 A occurs with a probability close to one for each encounter. In mixed hydrocarbons (olive oil, paraffin oils) and sec-butyl benzene, D infinity (T/eta)rho, where rho lies between 0.5 and 1. Oxygen diffuses in the hydrocarbons between 10 and 100 times more rapidly than predicted from the macroscopic viscosity. Similar results would be expected for diffusion of oxygen in model and biological membranes. Parallel measurements of rotational diffusion of the spin labels show little correlation with measurements of translational diffusion of oxygen. Dipolar interactions between spin labels and oxygen appear negligible except in the limit of highest viscosities.

Diffusion↗

PubMed1983

Concentration of oxygen in lipid bilayers using a spin-label method.

The concentration of oxygen in the hydrocarbon region of lipid bilayer has been determined using a novel electron spin resonance (ESR) nitroxide-radical spin-probe method. For dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC), the partition coefficient above the main transition temperature is approximately 3. Rapid decrease to 0.2 occurs below the pretransition temperature indicating exclusion of oxygen in the crystalline phase. The differences of molar free energy, enthalpy, and entropy of mixing between water and lipid have been determined for each phase.

Dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine↗

PubMed1982

Oxygen transport parameter in membranes as deduced by saturation recovery measurements of spin-lattice relaxation times of spin labels.

Spin-lattice relaxation time (T1) measurements of nitroxide radical spin labels in membranes have been made by using the saturation-recovery technique. Stearic acid and sterol-type labels were used as probes of dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine liposomes from 0 degrees C to 36 degrees C. In the absence of oxygen, the range of variation of T1 over all samples and conditions is about a factor of 3. Heisenberg exchange between oxygen and spin labels is an effective T1 mechanism for the spin labels. The full range of variation of T1 in the presence of air is about a factor of 100. It is suggested that the oxygen transport parameter W = T1(-1) (air) - T1(-1) (N2) is a useful new monitor of membrane fluidity that reports on translational diffusion of small molecules. The values of W change at the prephase and main phase transitions and vary in complex ways. Arguments are advanced that the data are indicative of anisotropic translational diffusion of oxygen.

Diffusion↗

PubMed1981

The diffusion-concentration product of oxygen in lipid bilayers using the spin-label T1 method.

A method is described to measure the oxygen diffusion-concentration product, DO[O2], at any locus that can be probed or labeled using nitroxide radicals. The method is based on the dependence of the spin-lattice relaxation time T1 of the spin label on the bimolecular collision rate with oxygen. Strong Heisenberg exchange between spin label and oxygen contributes directly to T1 of the spin label, while dipolar interactions are negligible. Both time-domain and continuous wave saturation methods for studying T1 are considered. The method has been applied to phospholipid liposomes using fatty acid spin labels. A discontinuity in DO[O2] at the main phase transition was observed.

Diffusion↗