Temperature dependence of structure, bending rigidity, and bilayer interactions of dioleoylphosphatidylcholine...

X-ray diffuse scattering was measured from oriented stacks and unilamellar vesicles of dioleoylphosphatidylcholine lipid bilayers to obtain the temperature dependence of the structure and of the material properties. The area/molecule, A, was 75.5 A(2) at 45 degrees C, 72.4 A(2) at 30 degrees C, and 69.1 A(2) at 15 degrees C, which gives the area expansivity alpha(A) = 0.0029/deg at 30 degrees C, and we show that this value is in excellent agreement with the polymer brush theory. The bilayer becomes thinner with increasing temperature; the contractivity of the hydrocarbon portion was alpha(Dc) = 0.0019/deg; the difference between alpha(A) and alpha(Dc) is consistent with the previously measured volume expansivity alpha(Vc) = 0.0010/deg. The bending modulus K(C) decreased as exp(455/T) with increasing T (K). Our area compressibility modulus K(A) decreased with increasing temperature by 5%, the same as the surface tension of dodecane/water, in agreement again with the polymer brush theory. Regarding interactions between bilayers, the compression modulus B as a function of interbilayer water spacing D'(W) was found to be nearly independent of temperature. The repulsive fluctuation pressure calculated from B and K(C) increased with temperature, and the Hamaker parameter for the van der Waals interaction was nearly independent of temperature; this explains why the fully hydrated water spacing, D'(W), that we obtain from our structural results increases with temperature.