Vertical fluctuations of phospholipid acyl chains in bilayers
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J R Wardlaw1, W H Sawyer, K P Ghiggino
1Russell Grimwade School of Biochemistry, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
Abstract:
The possibility of vertical displacement of acyl chains in lipid bilayers has been examined by quenching the fluorescence of 2-(9-anthroyloxy)palmitic acid with 5- and 16-doxylstearates in dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine unilamellar vesicles. Measurement of lifetime and steady-state quenching showed that the dynamic component of quenching was independent of the transverse position of the quencher indicating that a quencher at the 16-position could interact with a fluorophore at the 2-position with high frequency. The differences in steady-state quenching could be accounted for by the differences in the static component of quenching. The results provide further evidence for rapid vertical displacements of acyl chains in phospholipid bilayers.