Cooperative lengths and elastic constants in lipid bilayers: The chlorophyll a /dimyristoyllecithin system

• Published in: The Journal of Chemical Physics
• Main Authors: Watnick, Paula I., Dea, Phoebe, Nayeem, Akbar, Chan, Sunney I.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: AIP Publishing 1987
• Subjects: Physical and Theoretical Chemistry; General Physics and Astronomy; DML
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.452508; https://pubs.aip.org/aip/jcp/article-pdf/86/10/5789/11179779/5789_1_online.pdf

In order to study the slow, cooperative motional modes induced by the addition of chlorophyll a (chl a) to dimyristoyllecithin (DML) bilayers, the T1, T1ρ, and T2 deuterium relaxation rates in 1,2-dimyristoyl(9,9′,10,10′-d4) phosphatidyl choline have been measured as a function of increasing chl a content. These data have been interpreted in terms of a model of fluctuating order directors. A fit of the T1ρ and T2 relaxation rates using this model reveal a trend of decreasing elastic constants and cooperative lengths as chl a is added.