Abstract:

The effects of glucose and sucrose on the hydrated DHPE phase transitions have been studied by using differential scanning calorimetry. The experimental results demonstrated that the Lβ→Lα Phase transition temperature increased linearly with increasing the concentration c of sugars. With glucose, there is a relationship T=344. 37 +0.916 c(correlation coefficient r=0. 994; with sucrose, T=344.39+1.841c(r=0.9996). The ability of sucrose to decrease the Lα→HⅡ phase transition temperature was far stronger than that of glucose. In general, both glucose and sucrose could increase the cooperativity of Phase transition of hydrated DHPE, in addition to influence the phase transition enthalpies of hydrated DHPE. For the system of hydrated DHPE, both glucose and sucrose are kosmotropes, and they exert Hofmeister effect to influence the Phase transitions of hydrated DHPE. In comparison with glucose, sucrose should be quite a hopeful cryoprotectant in preservation of phospholipid bilayers structure.

Key words: Diheptadecanoyl phosphatidylethanolamine, Phase transition, Glucose, Sucrose, Differential scanning calorimetry