Surface behavior, microheterogeneity and adsorption equilibrium of myelin at the air-water interface.

RAFAEL GUSTAVO OLIVEIRA; MAGGIO, B.

CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS OF LIPIDS

ELSEVIER IRELAND LTD

Año: 2003 vol. 122 p. 171 - 171

0009-3084

nterfacial films of whole myelin membrane adsorb at the air/water interface from myelin vesicles. The films show a liquid state and their equilibrium spreading pressure is equal to the collapse pressure (about 47 mN/m). The films appear microheterogeneous as seen by epifluorescence microscopy, consisting in two liquid phases over all the adsorption isotherm, starting with rounded liquid expanded domains (low surface pressure) immersed in a cholesterolenriched phase and reaching a fractal pattern at high surface pressure similar to those previously observed by compressing the film. Vesicles adsorb to the interfacial film mainly at the lateral interfaces. The high surface pressure at equilibrium (almost equal to the collapse pressure) indicates the formation of surface multilayers, also shown by fluorescence microscopy.