Properties of gel phase lipid-trehalose bilayers upon rehydration

When dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine bilayers dried under vacuum in different concentrations of trehalose are rehydrated in buffer without the sugar they show different physicochemical properties in the gel state in comparison to the normal gel state. Dry DPPC/trehalose mixtures are readily dispersed in buffer below the phase transition showing by electron microscopy a morphology similar to liposomes prepared by dispersing the lipids in buffer above the phase transition temperature. In these conditions, an increase in the peak at 570 nm of merocyanine after the dehydration-rehydration process in the presence of the sugar is observed and the water permeation increases to values comparable to those found in the fluid state as indicated by the activation energy values and the osmotic volume. The trehalose-dried liposomes rehydrated in buffer show a similar osmotic response to hypertonic gradient as DPPC liposomes without sugar near the phase transition temperature. In accordance with this behavior the trehalose-dried liposomes are lysed below the phase transition temperature by lysoderivatives. These modifications of the gel state of hydrated phospholipids by trehalose can only be achieved if a drastic dehydration is performed in the presence of the sugar. After rehydration the changes in the gel state can be detected after dyalizing the rehydrated membranes in media without trehalose during at least 24 h. These results suggest that trehalose is still intercalated between the phospholipids after restoring water to the dried liposomes either at temperatures below or above the phase transition.