Phospholipid orientation

Grazing incidence excitation of a fluorescent probe in a phospholipid monolayer can also be used to indicate order. The collective tilt of the molecules in a domain inferred from such measurements is indicative of long-range orientational order [222]. 

The nonpolar lipid core consists of mainly triacylglycerol and cholesteryl ester and is surrounded by a single surface layer of amphipathic phospholipid and cholesterol molecules (Figure 25-1). These are oriented so that their polar groups face outward to the aqueous medium, as in the cell membrane (Chapter 14). The protein moiety of a lipoprotein is known as an apo-lipoprotein or apoprotein, constituting nearly 70% of some HDL and as litde as 1% of chylomicrons. Some apolipoproteins are integral and cannot be removed, whereas others are free to transfer to other hpoproteins. 

The I term is of particular relevance since, in anisotropic media such as liposomes and artiflcial membranes in chromatographic processes, ionic charges are located on the polar head of phospholipids (see Section 12.1.2) and thus able to form ionic bonds with ionized solutes, which are therefore forced to remain in the nonaqueous phase in certain preferred orientations. Conversely, in isotropic systems, the charges fluctuate in the organic phase and, in general, there are no preferred orientations for the solute. Given this difference in the I term (but also the variation in polar contributions, less evident but nevertheless present), it becomes clear that log P in anisotropic systems could be very different from the value obtained in isotropic systems. 

One question addressed in the literature is the relationship between the angle of orientation of the adsorbed species within the monolayer and their amphiphilic character. The case of surfactants like fatty acids or phospholipids is deferred until Section VI, since the technique of choice is SFG in order to perform a surface vibrational study. Phenol deri-... 

A theoretical approach based on the electrical double layer correction has been proposed to explain the observed enhancement of the rate of ion transfer across zwitter-ionic phospholipid monolayers at ITIES [17]. If the orientation of the headgroups is such that the phosphonic group remains closer to the ITIES than the ammonium groups, the local concentration of cations is increased at the ITIES and hence the current observed due to cation transfer is larger than in the absence of phospholipids at the interface. This enhancement is evaluated from the solution of the PB equation, and calculations have been carried out for the conditions of the experiments presented in the literature. The theoretical results turn out to be in good agreement with those experimental studies, thus showing the importance of the electrostatic correction on the rate of ion transfer across an ITIES with adsorbed phospholipids. 

As an example of suspected endocrine disruptors (EDs), studies of the estrogenic action of bisphenol A (BPA) have been in progress in medical, physiological, and biological fields. In this situation, physicochemical approaches are required to get the structural information of BPA trapped in biomembranes. Most recently, we have determined the site and the orientation of BPA trapped in phospholipid vesicles by NMR, using the HCS rule [47]. In particular, we have succeeded in monitoring the NMR spectral changes of phospholipid vesicles, which are induced by the BPA delivery. 

Abstract To understand how membrane-active peptides (MAPs) function in vivo, it is essential to obtain structural information about them in their membrane-bound state. Most biophysical approaches rely on the use of bilayers prepared from synthetic phospholipids, i.e. artificial model membranes. A particularly successful structural method is solid-state NMR, which makes use of macroscopically oriented lipid bilayers to study selectively isotope-labelled peptides. Native biomembranes, however, have a far more complex lipid composition and a significant non-lipidic content (protein and carbohydrate). Model membranes, therefore, are not really adequate to address questions concerning for example the selectivity of these membranolytic peptides against prokaryotic vs eukaryotic cells, their varying activities against different bacterial strains, or other related biological issues. 

Sanders CR, Hare B J, Howard KP, Prestegard JH (1994) Magnetically-oriented phospholipid micelles as a tool for the study of membrane-associated molecules. Prog Nucl Magn Reson Spectrosc 26 421 144... 

FIGURE 2-7 Putative model of apoE in rHDL. Two molecules of apoE of a total of about four molecules per discoidal particle are depicted to circumscribe the periphery of a bilayer of phospholipids. The helical axes are orientated perpendicular to the phospholipid fatty acyl chains. Adapted from [36] with permission. 

---