The effect of monoacylglycerol on the phase behavior of egg phosphatidylcholine

Phosphatidylcholine bilayers can accommodate large quantities of monoacylglycerol. Incorporating up to 40% monoacylglycerol has little effect on the orientation and motion of the phosphatidylcholine polar group. Briefly heating mixed dispersions of 1-monooleoylglycerol/egg phosphatidylcholine (1:1, weight ratio; 2.1:1, mole ratio) to 50-60 degrees C induced spontaneous vesiculation: unilamellar and some oligolamellar vesicles bud off the large multilamellar particles. The size of the resulting vesicles ranges from 100 to 1000 nm, with the bulk of the vesicles having diameters between 100 and 500 nm. The spontaneous vesiculation process is reflected in the visual clearance of the mixed lipid dispersion and in the collapse of the 31P powder NMR spectrum to a sharp, asymmetric peak. The narrowing of the 31P-NMR spectrum is explained in terms of additional molecular and/or segmental motion of the lipid polar groups. In mixed dispersions of 1-monooleoylglycerol/egg phosphatidylcholine containing an excess of 1-monooleoylglycerol (greater than or equal to 50%) domain formation takes place, i.e., the formation of local clusters enriched in either of the two lipids. As a result the mechanical properties of these mixed lipid bilayers seem to be quite different from those of pure egg phosphatidylcholine.