Hydration of DMPC and DPPC at 4 degrees C produces a novel subgel phase with convex-concave bilayer curvatures.

Hydration of dimyristoyl- and dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholines at 4 degrees C results in the formation of a characteristic subgel phase designated Pcc. Examination of the phase by freeze-fracture electron microscopy shows convex-concave deformations of the planar bilayer which are of two types. A smaller type with a radius of curvature of about 20 nm predominates in DMPC, and a larger type with about 70 nm radii of curvatures dominates in DPPC. The Pcc phase can also be formed in samples hydrated at temperatures above the main phase transition if the dispersion is frozen slowly and subsequently incubated at 4 degrees C for several days. The subgel Pcc phase was distinguished from the subgel Lc phase by the temperature of transition, packing of the acyl chains on the basis of wide-angle X-ray diffraction, and 2H-NMR spectra characteristic of a 'solid-ordered' phase. Vibrational spectra of the carbonyl and phosphate regions are consistent with a partially reduced hydration state. The origin of the convex-concave bilayer deformation is believed to result from constraints imposed by limiting hydration of the headgroup and a frustration arising from the spontaneous curvature of both monolayers.