Sensitivity of phospholipase C (Bacillus cereus) activity to lipid packing in sonicated lipid mixtures.

We have recently demonstrated that phospholipase C (PLC) activity on membranes decreases in the presence of membrane-active peptides such as alamethicin, gramicidin S, and melittin [Rao, N. M. (1992) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 182, 682-688]. Since these peptides affect lipid packing in the membrane and induce nonbilayer phases depending on the lipid composition, we tested for the sensitivity of PLC activity to lipid packing. We monitored PLC activities on four lipid systems which demonstrate a transition from the bilayer to the nonbilayer phase as a function of one of the components. The four model systems are (1) dioleoylphosphatidylcholine (DOPC) and dioleoylphosphatidylethanolamine (DOPE); (2) DOPE, DOPC, and cholesterol; (3) DOPE and lysophosphatidylcholine; and (4) DOPC and gramicidin D. On all four lipid systems, the PLC activity was high for lipid in the bilayer phase and decreased as the phase changed to the nonbilayer phase. The phase changes were also monitored in PLC assay conditions on the four model systems by 31P NMR to confirm the observations made with PLC. These results suggest that the lipid in bilayer and nonbilayer phases was differentially susceptible to PLC; hence, PLC activity may be used to monitor isothermal phase transitions at physiological conditions.