Ca²⁺-Induced Lateral Phase Separation in Ternary Mixtures of Phosphatidic Acid, Phosphatidylcholine, and Phosphatidylethanolamine Inferred by Calorimetry

抄録

Phase transition characteristics of ternary mixtures of dipalmitoylphosphatidic acid, dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine, and phosphatidylethanolamine (dilauroyl-, dimyri-stoyl-, or dipalmitoyl-phosphatidylethanolamine) were examined by differential scanning calorimetry at various concentrations of calcium ions. In the absence of calcium ion, these ternary mixtures showed a broad phase transition, which suggested a high miscibility of these components. Addition of a low concentration of calcium ions showed a tendency to induce separation of the transition into a major one and a small one. As the concentration of calcium ions increased, the separation became more distinct and the transition enthalpy of the major transition decreased. At a Ca²⁺/dipalmitoylphosphatidic acid ratio (mol/mol) of 1.5, the major transition became similar to the transition of dipalmitoylphosphatidyl-choline and the phosphatidylethanolamine binary mixture. On the other hand, in a binary mixture dipalmitoylphosphatidic acid and dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine, the Ca²⁺-induced phase separation was distinct even at the lowest concentration of calcium ions used inthe present experiment. The results indicate that a high concentration of calcium ion is required for inducing complete phase separation of the transition event in the ternary mixture because of its high miscibility. It is suggested that the phase separationrevealed by spin-labeled phospholipid in ternary mixtures at a low Ca²⁺ concentration might be a phase separation in a local domain.