Kinetics of association of amphotericin B with vesicles

Abstract
Amphotericin B associates with vesicles prepared from phosphatidylcholines. The influence of lipid composition on the initial rate of amphotericin B association with vesicles was examined using stopped-flow kinetic measurements. A relationship was found between the tightness of packing of phosphatidylcholine molecules in the vesicles and the initial rate of amphotericin B association. Shortening the fatty acyl chain length of saturated phosphatidylcholines and increasing the number of double bonds in the fatty acyl chains of unsaturated phosphatidylcholines enhanced the initial rate, whereas addition of cholesterol to the bilayers reduces the rate. The initial rate of association with phosphatidylcholine-sterol vesicles follows the order, thiocholesterol > androst-5-en-3.beta.-ol > epicholesterol > ergosterol > cholesterol and is inversely related to the order of phospholipid-sterol affinity, as revealed by permeability, surface area and magnetic resonance measurements. The initial rate of amphotericin B uptake into vesicles may depend on competition between lipid-lipid and amphotericin-lipid interactions.