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Lipid Thermodynamics: Melting is Molecular
Author(s) -
Krishnamurty Sailaja,
Stefanov Milen,
Mineva Tzonka,
Bégu Sylvie,
Devoisselle Jean Marie,
Goursot Annick,
Zhu Rui,
Salahub Dennis R.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
chemphyschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.016
H-Index - 140
eISSN - 1439-7641
pISSN - 1439-4235
DOI - 10.1002/cphc.200800511
Subject(s) - intramolecular force , bilayer , thermodynamics , lipid bilayer , phase transition , liquid crystal , chemistry , melting point , crystallography , chemical physics , physics , condensed matter physics , stereochemistry , membrane , organic chemistry , biochemistry
Heads or tails? The distance‐fluctuation criterion for melting, Δ B , shows that a dimyristoyl phosphatidylcholine (DMPC) molecule undergoes a gel‐to‐liquid‐crystal phase transition ( T m ) at 297–301 K (see graph). Alkyl chains transform from trans to gauche at 297 K and interchain disorder sets in at 301 K. These temperatures are close to the T m of a DMPC bilayer, which implies that the T m is driven by intramolecular dynamical properties.