Partial molecular surface areas as a probe of chemical equilibria in lipid bilayers: Anti-cooperative binding of benzyl alcohol to dimyristoyl phosphatidylcholine
✍ Scribed by N. Boden; R.J. Bushby; P.F. Knowles; F. Sixl
- Book ID
- 103025498
- Publisher
- Elsevier Science
- Year
- 1988
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 587 KB
- Volume
- 145
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0009-2614
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✦ Synopsis
The methods of partial molecular surface areas and deuterium NMR spectroscopy are used to show that benzyl alcohol forms a 1: 1 "complex" with the lipid in a dimyristoyl phosphatidylcholine bilayer. This involves a hydrogen bond between the benzyl alcohol molecule and the phosphate group of the lipid. The formation of this complex is shown to be anti-cooperative. This is likely because the benzyl alcohol molecule, in the complex, distorts the conformation of the head groups of neighbouring lipid molecules in such a manner that their interaction with "free" benzyl alcohol becomes less favourable. It is suggested that this would be a common and, possibly, significant feature of the interaction of all polar anaesthetics with lipid bilayers.