Subgel Characterization and Effects of Ions on Phospholipid Bilayers
Erik Anderson
Faculty Advisor: P. K. Dea

     Fluorescence spectroscopy and phosphorus-31 nuclear magnetic resonance (³¹P NMR) were used to study the phase dynamics of a 16-carbon acyl chain phospholipid, dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC), with and without the presence of ions. ³¹P NMR studies show that increasing ZnSO₄ concentrations up to 25 mol% is accompanied by an increase in area of an isotropic peak near 0 ppm indicating the presence of free rotation of small unilamellar vesicles in the liquid-crystalline phase. Fluorescence emission data indicate that increasing the ZnSO₄ concentration causes increasingly greater changes in relative fluorescence intensity near the gel to liquid-crystalline transition temperature of DPPC.

Support provided by:  National Science Foundation-Research Experience for Undergraduates Fellowship