Physical study of dynamics in fully hydrated phospholipid bilayers

Abstract

We studied the thermotropic phase behavior of a phospholipid membrane bilayer of dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC) under excess water conditions. We also investigated the effect induced by the antimicrobial peptide, gramicidin D (GrD), when inserted into the membrane bilayer. Several techniques were used to collect information on different properties and various spatial and temporal regimes, including differential scanning calorimetry, fixed energy window neutron scattering, pulsed-field gradient nuclear magnetic resonance and molecular dynamics simulations. We obtained data on the main phase transition (gel–liquid crystalline) temperature of the bilayer system and on the long-range diffusion coefficient for both phospholipids and hydration water. Moreover, we demonstrated the effect of transition on microscopic molecular mobility, perpendicular and parallel to the membrane plane. The influence of gramicidin on these properties is also discussed.

Keywords:

• biomolecules
• biophysics
• DSC
• neutron scattering
• NMR
• simulation

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Mounir Tarek for generously sharing the initial configuration of the DMPC membrane. This research was supported in part by INFM CRS-SOFT.