Structural and dynamical details of cholesterol-lipid interaction as revealed by deuterium NMR

• Published in: Biochemistry (Easton) Vol. 23; no. 25; pp. 6062 - 6071
• Main Authors: Dufourc, Erick J, Parish, Edward J, Chitrakorn, Sarawanee, Smith, Ian C. P
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Chemical Society 01.12.1984
• Subjects: Analytical chemistry; Biochemistry, Molecular Biology; Biological and medical sciences; Biophysics; Chemical Sciences; cholesterol; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Interactions. Associations; Intermolecular phenomena; Life Sciences; lipid bilayers; Molecular biophysics; N.M.R; or physical chemistry; Structural Biology; Theoretical and; Deuterium; Temperature; Order parameter; Phospholipid; Molecular interaction; NMR spectrometry; Bilayer; Cholesterol
• ISSN: 0006-2960; 1520-4995
• DOI: 10.1021/bi00320a025

Deuterium nuclear magnetic resonance of specifically deuterated alpha - and beta -cholesterol and 1-myristoyl-2-(deuteriomyristoyl)-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (molar ratio 3:7, respectively, dispersed in water) was used to differentiate between pure angular fluctuations (segmental order parameter, S sub( alpha )) and average orientations (geometrical parameter, S sub( gamma )) of C- super(2)H bonds with respect to the normal to the bilayer. Hence, the orientation of cholesterol within the lipid bilayer was detemined. In addition, the side chain of beta -cholesterol has been found to be as ordered as the condensed ring structure. Such information allows a quantitation of the disordering-ordering effect of cholesterol in biological membranes.