The thermodynamic properties of mixed phospholipid bilayers: a theoretical analysis

A theoretical model is presented with the intention of describing lateral phase separations in binary lipid mixtures in which the acyl chains of the components differ in their length. The model includes explicitly interactions between the acyl chains and between polar heads of the lipid molecules. Phase diagrams and thermodynamic properties of binary lipid mixtures were calculated using a wide range of interaction parameters. It is shown that the occurrence of immiscibility in the gel phase is related to the interactions between the polar heads of the lipid molecules. The calculated results for binary lipid mixtures are compared with the available experimental data. In particular, the calculated specific heat for dilauroyl phosphatidylcholine-distearoyl phosphatidylcholine is in reasonable agreement with experimental results obtained from differential scanning calorimetry measurements.