Abstract-Temperature and Hydration Dependence of Low-Frequency Spectra of Lipid Bilayers Studied by Terahertz Time-Domain Spectroscopy

Naoki Yamamoto , Tomoyo Andachi , Atsuo Tamura , and Keisuke Tominaga

J. Phys. Chem. B, Just Accepted Manuscript

DOI: 10.1021/jp5099766

Publication Date (Web): December 4, 2014

Copyright © 2014 American Chemical Society

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jp5099766


We have studied temperature and hydration dependent low-frequency spectra of lipid bilayers of 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoryl-3’-rac-glycerol (DMPG) and 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPC) by terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS). We measured X-ray diffraction patterns and mid-infrared spectra of these lipid bilayers and found that the lipid bilayer have two different types of phases, i.e. the gel phase and the crystalline phase, depending on preparation methods of the samples. In both the phases a few distinct bands were observed in the THz region. For DMPG the peak wavenumbers of the absorption bands did not change upon hydration, while the bandwidth in the crystalline phase was smaller than that in the gel phase. We performed spectral analyses for the complex dielectric spectra for DMPG and DMPC with a model function, mainly to determine the peak wavenumbers of the absorption bands. In contrast to the case of the DMPG bilayers the peak wavenumber of the absorption band of the DMPC bilayer shifts upon hydration. In the hydrated DMPC bilayer it was suggested fast reorienting water molecules exist with a relaxation time of sub-picoseconds. It is suggested that the THz absorption patterns reflect the lipid packing pattern in the bilayers. The temperature dependence of the absorption band was analyzed by an empirical equation, and the anharmonicity of the vibrational potential of the low-frequency mode was quantitatively evaluated.