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The regularities of accumulation of conjugated dienes and thiobarbituric acid (TBA)-reactive substances under gamma-irradiation of liposomes from rat liver phosphatidylcholine (PC) and its mixtures with the resistant to lipid peroxidation saturated phospholipids and bovine brain sphingomyelin (SM) were studied. It was established that the incorporation of negatively charged dipalmitoylphosphatidylglycerol (DPPG) and dipalmitoylphosphatidylethanol (DPPET) into lipid bilayer resulted in the increase of primary and secondary products of LPO, whereas neutral dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) and SM involving in the phospholipid mixtures inhibited the peroxidation of PC. For anionic phospholipids, DPPG had more profound activating action on LPO, amongst the neutral phospholipids SM was more potent inhibitor of the reaction. Unlike DPPET and DPPC, DPPG and SM were subjected to free radical fragmentation on gamma-radiation. It is suggested that the intermediates and products of free radical fragmentation may modulate the progress of LPO.

Monolayer mixtures of dihydrocholesterol and phospholipids at the air-water interface are used to model membranes containing cholesterol and phospholipids. Specific, stoichiometric interactions between cholesterol and some but not all phospholipids have been proposed to lead to the formation of condensed complexes. It is reported here that an externally applied electric field of the appropriate sign can destabilize these complexes, resulting in their dissociation. This is demonstrated through the application of an electric field gradient that leads to phase separations in otherwise homogeneous monolayers. This is observed only when the monolayer composition is close to the stoichiometry of the complex. The electric field effect is analyzed with the same mean field thermodynamic model as that used previously to account for pairs of upper miscibility critical points in these mixtures. The concentrations of dihydrocholesterol, phospholipid, and complex vary strongly and sometimes discontinuously in the monolayer membrane in the field gradient. The model is an approximation to a two-dimensional liquid in which molecules freely exchange between free and complexed form so that the chemical potentials are constant throughout the membrane. The calculations are illustrated for a complex of about 15 molecules, composed of 5 cholesterol molecules and 10 phospholipid molecules.