Comparative calorimetric and spectroscopic studies of the effects of cholesterol and epicholesterol on the thermotropic phase behaviour of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine bilayer membranes

We carried out comparative differential scanning calorimetric and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic studies of the effects of cholesterol (Chol) and epicholesterol (EChol) on the thermotropic phase behaviour and organization of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) bilayers. EChol is an epimer of Chol in which the axially oriented hydroxyl group of C3 of Chol is replaced by an equatorially oriented hydroxyl group, resulting in a different orientation of the hydroxyl group relative to sterol fused ring system. Our calorimetric studies indicate that the incorporation of EChol is more effective than Chol is in reducing the enthalpy of the pretransition of DPPC. EChol is also initially more effective than Chol in reducing the enthalpies of both the sharp and broad components of the main phase transition of DPPC. However, at higher EChol concentrations (~ 30–50 mol%), EChol becomes less effective than Chol in reducing the enthalpy and cooperativity of the main phase transition, such that at sterol concentrations of 50 mol%, EChol does not completely abolish the cooperative hydrocarbon chain-melting phase transition of DPPC, while Chol does. However, EChol does not appear to form a calorimetrically detectable crystallite phase at higher sterol concentrations, suggesting that EChol, unlike Chol, may form dimers or lower order aggregates at higher sterol concentrations. Our spectroscopic studies demonstrate that EChol incorporation produces more ordered gel and comparably ordered liquid-crystalline bilayers compared to Chol, which are characterized by increased hydrogen bonding in the glycerol backbone region of the DPPC bilayer. These and other results indicate that monomeric EChol is less miscible in DPPC bilayers than is Chol at higher sterol concentrations, but perturbs their organization to a greater extent at lower sterol concentrations, probably due primarily to the larger effective cross-sectional area of the EChol molecule. Nevertheless, EChol does appear to produce a lamellar liquid-ordered phase in DPPC bilayers.