Regulation of cholesteryl oleate and triolein miscibility in monolayers and bilayers.

The miscibility of triolein and cholesteryl oleate with 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl phosphatidylcholine was studied at the argon-buffer interface. The surface phase behavior of the system was analogous to that for cholesteryl ester-phospholipid mixtures in that both monolayer and double layer surface phases were formed. By considering the bulk properties of cholesteryl oleatetriolein mixtures and the two-dimensional phase rule, the entire system could be described. Double layer properties suggest that it consists of mostly triolein and phospholipid in the layer adjacent to the aqueous phase. The monolayer phase shows the formation of complexes between the neutral lipids and the phospholipid with stoichiometries nearly identical with those reported for bilayers (Hamilton, J. A., Miller, K. W., and Small, D. M. (1983) J. Biol. Chem. 258, 12821-12826). A second complex with a 3:1 stoichiometry is formed between triolein and cholesteryl oleate independently of interactions with phospholipid. Upon interaction with phospholipid, the triolein-cholesteryl oleate complex loses proportionately more area than either lipid alone. Because the area of complexes with phospholipid is constant, overall neutral lipid miscibility in such complexes is enhanced by the cholesteryl oleate-triolein interaction. Thus, our data explain the apparently nonideal mixing of cholesteryl oleate, triolein, and phospholipid in monolayers and in bilayers.