Physical properties of fatty acyl-CoA. Critical micelle concentrations and micellar size and shape.

Critical micelle concentrations (CMCs) of palmitoyl-CoA were determined by surface tension, conductivity, and fluorimetric measurements in a variety of buffers at several pH values and ionic strengths. They ranged from 7 to 250 microM and were frequently an order of magnitude higher than most reported values. The CMCs of stearoyl-CoA and oleoyl-CoA, determined fluorimetrically, were also high and consistent with the expected effects of chain length and unsaturation. The effects of ionic strength and temperature were analyzed to obtain the extent of counterion binding and the thermodynamic parameters of micellization. The values of delta H0, delta G0, and delta S0 obtained in 0.011 M Tris, pH 8.3, are -6 K X J X mol-1, -64 K X J X mol-1, and +193 J X mol-1 X K-1, and the average number of univalent ions bound per molecule in the micelles is 1.4. These values are within the range of those obtained for other univalent and polyvalent detergents. Analyzed by sedimentation and diffusion, the micelles are approximately spherical with an anhydrous mass of 50,000 daltons but with dimensions inconsistent with fully extended molecules. Correlation of the information obtained from the present physical studies with kinetic studies using long-chain fatty acyl-CoAs as enzyme substrates may be helpful for understanding the enzymology of these compounds, and some previously published kinetic studies of membrane-bound and soluble enzymes may bear reinterpretation.