Abstract:

Changes of the behavior of the thermotropic phase transitions of the phospholipid DHPC by the action of miniprotein gramicidin D (G.D) have been studied by differential scanning calorimetry. The experimental results demonstrated that G.D could not remove the pretransition of DHPC, but the pretransition peak and the main transition peak of DHPC were incorporated into a broad peak. The pretransition temperature and the main transition temperature of DHPC decreased to different ex-tent. The sums of the pretransition and main transition enthalpies of DHPC showed a lineally decreasing relationship with increasing the mole fraction x_g of gramicidin D.

Key words: 1,2-di-n-heptadecanoyl phosphatidylcholine, Gramicidin D, Phase transition, Differential scanning calorimetry