Raman scattering in protonated and deuterated 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine (DPPC): Indicators of conformational and lateral orders.

The use of deuterocarbons is an effective method in the Raman spectroscopy of multicomponent lipid materials and biological samples. Here, Raman spectra of hydrated multilamellar vesicles of 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPPC), its deuterated analog 1,2-dipalmitoyl-d62-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPPC), and DPPC-DPPC mixtures were studied in a wide temperature range to specify the Raman indicators of conformational and lateral orders. The temperature dependence of the 985 cm line in the deuterated phospholipid unequivocally indicates that this line corresponds to the CC stretching vibrations of deuterated hydrocarbon chains in the all-trans conformation. It was also concluded that the ratio of Raman intensities at the maximum of the peak of the symmetric CD stretching and at a maximum near 2168 cm reflects the conformational order of the hydrocarbon chain and can be used for an evaluation of the fraction of the all-trans sequences. The frequency of the symmetric CD stretching peak is sensitive to the phase state (gel or fluid) but has a low sensitivity to the partial conformational disordering within the gel phase. The Raman study of DPPC-DPPC mixtures reveals that the lateral order contributes to the ratio of intensities of the antisymmetric and symmetric CH stretching peaks as a prefactor enhancing the effect of conformational ordering.