NaCl-dependent formation of the highly crystalline phase in sufficiently hydrated dimyristoylphosphatidylglycerol bilayers.

We investigated the low-temperature phase behavior of dimyristoylphosphatidylglycerol (DMPG) bilayers in the presence of high concentration of NaCl (>or=100 mM). Differential scanning calorimetry showed that the highly crystalline (HC) phase grew after an initial delay period when DMPG bilayers were sufficiently hydrated and incubated at 1 degree C in the presence of more than 100 mM NaCl. The HC phase formation reached a plateau, the level of which depended on NaCl concentration; all the lipids were unable to be in the HC phase at the plateau stage without a quite high concentration of NaCl. Since electron microscopic observations suggested that the HC phase formed coexists with the precursor phases in a closed vesicle, elastic constrain and/or shortage of free sodium ions in the inside of the closed vesicle may prevent the complete transition into the HC phase.