An EPR study of the interfacial properties of phosphatidylcholine vesicles with different lipid chain lengths.

The hydrophobic spin probe 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-piperidin-1-oxyl-4-yl octadecanoate (TEMPO-stearate) is used to study the interfacial properties of a variety of phosphatidylcholine vesicles. Since the spin probe exhibits a fast motional electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectrum above the phase transition, the EPR spectrum of the spin probe is analyzed by nonlinear least-squares spectral fitting. EPR spectral line fitting provides high precision spectral parameters, which can be used to construct a detailed picture of the dynamics of the probe and its environment. The hyperfine coupling spacing is used to estimate the effective water concentration in the polar shell of vesicles, while the rotational correlation times give the information on the motion of the spin probe. The effective water concentration of the polar shell of dimyristoyl-phosphatidylglycerol (DMPG) vesicles is greater on average by about 4.0M than the effective water concentration of the polar shell of dimyristoyl-phosphatidylcholine (DMPC) vesicles. The effective water concentration decreases by about 0.5M for an increase of two carbons in the chain, and increases noticeably with hydrocarbon chain unsaturation, which is in good agreement with literature values. The nitroxide moiety rotates preferentially along the N-O bond, that is, parallel to its hydrocarbon chain.