Vertical fluctuations of phospholipid acyl chains in bilayers

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Abstract
The possibility of vertical displacement of acyl chains in lipid bilayers has been examined by quenching the fluorescence of 2‐(9‐anthroyloxy)palmitic acid with 5‐ and 16‐doxylstearates in dipalmitoylphosphatidyl‐choline unilamellar vesicles. Measurement of lifetime and steady‐state quenching showed that the dynamic component of quenching was independent of the transverse position of the quencher indicating that a quencher at the 16‐position could interact with a fluorophore at the 2‐position with high frequency. The differences in steady‐state quenching could be accounted for by the differences in the static component of quenching. The results provide further evidence for rapid vertical displacements of acyl chains in phospholipid bilayers.