Phase equilibria in binary mixtures of phosphatidylcholine and cholesterol.

The paramagnetic resonance spectra of two spin-labels, 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperadinyl-1-oxy and a head-group spin-labeled phosphatidylethanolamine (L-alpha-dipalmitoylphosphatidyl-N-ethanolamine), have been used to study solid-liquid and liquid-liquid phase separations in binary mixtures of dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine and cholesterol. A quantitative analysis of these resonance spectra supports the view that at temperatures below theta m, the chain-melting temperature of the phospholipid, and at cholesterol mole fractions Xc less than 0.2, these mixtures consist of two phases, a solid phase of essentially pure dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine and a fluid phase having a mole fraction of cholesterol equal to 0.2. The spin-label data also provide evidence for fluid-fluid immiscibility in the bilayer membrane at temperatures above the chain melting transition temperature of dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine.