Interaction of 4-tert-butyl-[3-(2-chloroethyl) ureido] benzene with phosphatidylcholine bilayers: a differential scanning calorimetry and infrared spectroscopy study.

We have investigated the interaction between a new antineoplastic drug, 4-tert-butyl-[3-(2-chloroethyl)ureido] benzene (tBCEU), and distearoylphosphatidylcholine bilayers using differential scanning calorimetry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and high-pressure infrared spectroscopy. The results obtained with the three different techniques indicate that the drug incorporates in the lipid bilayer. More specifically, the incorporation of the tBCEU results in a decrease in the phase transition temperature of the lipid and in an increase in the amount of gauche conformers in the liquid-crystalline phase. In the gel phase, high-pressure FT-IR results indicate that the incorporation of tBCEU decreases the acyl chain packing. In addition, the results suggest the presence of hydrogen bonding between the lipid carbonyl group and a hydrogen bond donor in the tBCEU molecule. A possible candidate for this donor is the NH group adjacent to the phenyl ring. A model is proposed for the incorporation of tBCEU in lipid bilayers, with the hydrophobic portion of the drug intercalated between the lipid bilayers and the hydrophilic region located close to the interfacial region of the bilayer.