The thermodynamic phase behavior and lateral lipid membrane organization of
unilamellar vesicles made from mixtures of 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-ph
osphocholine (DMPC) and 1,2 distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DSPC) w
ere investigated by fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) as a func
tion of temperature and composition. This was done by incorporating a headg
roup-labeled lipid donor (NBD-DPPE) and acceptor (N-Rh-DPPE) in low concent
rations into the binary mixtures. Two instances of increased energy transfe
r efficiency were observed close to the phase lines in the DMPC/DSPC phase
diagram. The increase in energy transfer efficiency was attributed to a dif
ferential preference of the probes for dynamic and fluctuating gel/fluid co
existing phases. This differential preference causes the probes to segregat
e (S. Pedersen, K. Jorgensen, T. R. Baekmark, and O. G. Mouritsen, 1996, Bi
ophys. J. 71:554-560). The observed increases in energy transfer match with
the boundaries of the DMPC/DSPC phase diagram, as measured by Fourier tran
sform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and differential scanning calorimetry (D
SC). We propose that the two instances of probe segregation are due to the
presence of DMPC-rich and DSPC-rich domains, which form a dynamic structure
of gel/fluid coexisting phases at two different temperatures. Monitoring t
he melting profile of each lipid component independently by FTIR shows that
the domain structure is formed by DMPC-rich and DSPC-rich domains rather t
han by pure DMPC and DSPC domains.