Perturbations of membrane structure by optical probes: II. Differential scanning calorimetry of dipalmitoyllecithin and its analogs interacting with merocyanine 540

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Abstract
Differential scanning calorimetry of multilamellar liposomes, interacting with the optical probe Merocyanine 540, yields quantitative information about perturbances of the bilayer structure induced by this dye. At low dye: lipid ratios, the dye perturbs primarily its own microenvironment, which is laterally separated from the unmodified lipid domain and exhibits modified thermotropic properties. A further increase in the dye concentration results in a perturbance of the whole lipid bilayer. The degree of perturbance is sensitive to structural modifications in the head-group region of the lipids. It is concluded that Merocyanine 540 reports in every case, even at infinite dilution, on localized events originating from a perturbed microenvironment.