EFFECTS OF LUTEIN AND CHOLESTEROL ON ALKYL CHAIN BENDING IN LIPID BILAYERS - A PULSE ELECTRON-SPIN-RESONANCE SPIN-LABELING STUDY

A short pulse saturation recovery electron spin resonance technique ha s been used to study the effects of polar carotenoid-lutein and choles terol on interactions of N-14:N-15 stearic acid spin-label pairs in fl uid-phase phosphatidylcholine (PC) membranes. Bimolecular collisions f or pairs consisting of various combinations of [N-14]-16-, [N-14]-10-, [N-14]-7-, Or [N-14]-5-doxylstearate and [N-15]-16-doxylstearate in d imyristoyl-PC (DMPC) or egg yolk PC (EYPC) membranes were measured at 27 degrees C. In the absence and presence of lutein or cholesterol for both lipid systems, the collision rates were ordered as 16:5 < 16:7 < 16:10 < 16:16. For all Spin-label pairs studied, interaction frequenc ies were greater in DMPC than in EYPC. Polar carotenoid-lutein reduces the collision frequency for all spin-label pairs, whereas cholesterol reduces the collision frequency for 16:5 and 16:7 pairs and increases the collision frequency in the membrane center for 16:10 and 16:16 pa irs. The presence of unsaturated alkyl chains greatly reduces the effe ct of lutein but magnifies the effect of cholesterol in the membrane c enter. The observed differences in the effects of these modifiers on a lkyl chain bending result from differences in the structure of cholest erol and polar carotenoid and from their different localization within the lipid bilayer membrane. These studies further confirm the occurre nce of vertical fluctuations of alkyl chain ends toward the bilayer su rface.