Phospholipid-nucleoside conjugates. The aggregational characteristics and morphological aspects of selected 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine 5'-diphosphate-L-1,2-diacylglycerols.

1-beta-D-Arabinofuranosylcytosine 5'-diphosphate-1,2-diacylglycerols have previously been shown to be promising candidates as prodrugs of the clinically useful antileukemic agent 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine. Because of the amphipathic nature of these liponucleotides and the potential that their morphological state may mediate their biological activity, it was necessary to undertake detailed studies of their aggregational and morphological characteristics. When samples of 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine 5'-diphosphate-L-1,2-diacylglycerols (containing either dimyristoyl, dipalmitoyl or distearoyl fatty acid side chains) were prepared in buffered saline solutions using sonication methods, the morphological nature of the resulting aggregate was shown to be related to temperature and the length of the side chain. When sonicated at low temperatures all the above-mentioned derivatives gave turbid solutions containing large bilayer sheets. As the temperature was raised, a transition temperature was reached at which a stable three-dimensional cross-linked network of small interlocking bilayer stacks was formed. This turbidity transition temperature was directly related to the chain length of the fatty acid side chain. Sonication at temperatures close to this turbidity transition temperature produced small disc-shaped micellar structures. These micelles were shown to exist in another aggregational equilibrium consisting of a stacking-destacking process, the position within this equilibrium being dependent upon the concentration. In contrast, a sample of 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine 5'-diphosphate-L-1,2-dioleoylglycerol (which contains an unsaturated carbon-carbon bond in each of the fatty acid side chains) was shown to give a multilamellar liposome structure when sonicated in buffered saline at temperatures above its turbidity transition temperature.