We studied the effects of chain branching on the water and nonionic (neutral) solute permeability of lipid bilayers in a molecular dynamics simulation comparing two bilayers:  dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) and diphytanoylphosphatidylcholine (DPhPC). The calculated free energy profiles of several neutral solute and water molecules across the lipid membranes showed that chain branching caused no significant changes in the solubility of these molecules inside the membrane core. However, an analysis of the cavity distribution in each of these bilayer systems demonstrated that the branch-chained DPhPC bilayer had, compared with the straight-chained DPPC bilayer, a relatively small and discrete free volume distribution in the hydrophobic part. This suggests that small penetrants have a lower rate of diffusion inside branch-chained lipid bilayers. Actually, water molecules showed lower local diffusion coefficients inside the DPhPC membrane than inside the DPPC membrane. The low penetrant mobility of the former must correlate with the slower dynamics of the branched DPhPC chains. Thus, we conclude that chain branching effects on the permeability are, as far as neutral small penetrants are concerned, attributable mainly to the reduction of chain dynamics. The effects of chain branching on proton permeability are also discussed in the context of the proton-wire hypothesis.

Recent studies have indicated that there are many barriers to successful systemic gene delivery via cationic lipid vectors using the intravenous route. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of binding and interaction between erythrocytes, a major constituent of blood cells, and the complexes, in relation to the role of the helper lipid, on the in vivo gene delivery to the lung following intravenous injection. We used three types of cationic lipid vectors, DNA-DOTMA/Chol liposome complexes, DNA-DOTMA liposome complexes, and DNA-DOTMA/DOPE liposome complexes. Although the three types of vectors bind to murine blood cells in vivo and in vitro, DOTMA/Chol and DOTMA complexes with a higher in vivo transfection activity do not induce fusion between erythrocytes, whereas DOTMA/DOPE complexes, a less efficient vector in vivo,

The lipid membranes found in archaea have high bilayer stability and low permeability. The molecular structure of their constituent lipids is characterized by ether-linked, branched hydrophobic chains, whereas the conventional lipids obtained from eukaryotic or eubacterial sources have ester linked straight chains. In order to elucidate the influence of the ether linkage, instead of an ester one, on the physical properties of the lipid bilayers, we have carried out comparative 10 ns molecular dynamics simulations of diphytanyl phosphatidylcholine (ether-DPhPC) and diphytanoyl phosphatidylcholine (ester-DPhPC) bilayers in water, respectively. We analyze bilayer structures, hydration of the lipids, membrane dipole potentials, and free energy profiles of water and oxygen across the bilayers. We observe that the membrane dipole potential for the ether-DPhPC bilayer, which arises mainly from the ether linkage, is about half of that of the ester-DPhPC. The calculated free energy barrier for a water molecule in the ether-DPhPC bilayer system is slightly higher than that in the ester-DPhPC counterpart, which is in accord with experimental data.

In general, bilayers composed of branch-chained lipid molecules are known to have high stability and low ion permeability. To understand how chain branching affects bilayer properties on a molecular level, two molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of lipid bilayers have been undertaken in the isothermal−isobaric ensemble. The first MD simulation was carried out on the straight-chained DPPC bilayer, and the second was carried out on the branch-chained DPhPC bilayer. Chain branching reduced segmental order of the lipid chain. This would be closely related to a high gauche probability at the dihedrals in the vicinity of tert-carbons; these dihedrals brought about the chain bending at the branched segments. Due to the characteristic conformation of the branched chain, some different effects were observed:  First, the probability of parallel orientation of the two chains in a lipid was reduced; second, a chain caught between the two chains of the neighboring lipid in the same leaflet of the bilayer was frequently observed. As a consequence, the branched chain showed a much lower overall rate of trans−gauche isomerization than its straight counterpart. In conclusion, the high structural stability of the branched DPhPC bilayer is attributable mainly to the slow conformational motion of the hydrophobic chain, which is clearly correlated with the observed chain “entrapment” between the lateral neighboring lipid molecules.

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