Effects of butanol isomers on dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine bilayer membranes

Differential scanning calorimetry and 31P-NMR were used to study the effects of butanol isomers on the thermotropic phase behavior of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) bilayers. The threshold concentration for the onset of interdigitation for each isomer was determined by the disappearance of the pretransition and the onset of a large hysteresis between the heating and cooling scans of the gel-to-liquid main transition. The threshold concentration was found to correlate with increased solubility of the isomers in the aqueous phase, led by tert-butanol. However, as the solution concentration of tert-butanol increased, there was an abrupt shrinking of the hysteresis, initially with well-resolved shoulder peaks indicating mixed phases. The eventual disappearance of the shoulder peaks was correlated with a breakdown of the multilamellar structure identified using 31P-NMR.