Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-18-2017

Publication Title

Langmuir

Volume

33

Issue

15

First Page

3731

Last Page

3741

Abstract

We measured the transbilayer diffusion of 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPPC) in large unilamellar vesicles, in both the gel (Lβ′) and fluid (Lα) phases. The choline resonance of headgroup-protiated DPPC exchanged into the outer leaflet of headgroup-deuterated DPPC-d13 vesicles was monitored using 1H NMR spectroscopy, coupled with the addition of a paramagnetic shift reagent. This allowed us to distinguish between the inner and outer bilayer leaflet of DPPC, to determine the flip-flop rate as a function of temperature. Flip-flop of fluid-phase DPPC exhibited Arrhenius kinetics, from which we determined an activation energy of 122 kJ mol-1. In gel-phase DPPC vesicles, flip-flop was not observed over the course of 250 h. Our findings are in contrast to previous studies of solid-supported bilayers, where the reported DPPC translocation rates are at least several orders of magnitude faster than those in vesicles at corresponding temperatures. We reconcile these differences by proposing a defect-mediated acceleration of lipid translocation in supported bilayers, where long-lived, submicron-sized holes resulting from incomplete surface coverage are the sites of rapid transbilayer movement.

DOI

10.1021/acs.langmuir.6b04485

ISSN

07437463

E-ISSN

15205827

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

PubMed ID

28106399

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