Nuclear Relaxation Studies of Lecithin Bilayers

BILAYER phases of lipids have broad proton magnetic resonance (PMR) spectra, which have been attributed to incomplete averaging of the dipole–dipole interactions between various protons as a result of slow molecular motion 1,2 . Two pulsed nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) studies, however, have prop...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature (London) 1971-05, Vol.231 (5298), p.110-112
Main Authors: CHAN, SUNNEY I, FEIGENSON, G. W, SEITER, C. H. A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Humanities and Social Sciences
letter
multidisciplinary
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
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Summary:BILAYER phases of lipids have broad proton magnetic resonance (PMR) spectra, which have been attributed to incomplete averaging of the dipole–dipole interactions between various protons as a result of slow molecular motion 1,2 . Two pulsed nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) studies, however, have proposed internal magnetic field gradients as the source of spectral broadening. Kaufman et al. concluded that these gradients led to inhomogeneity broadening 3 , whereas Hansen and Lawson proposed molecular diffusion through them 4 . These conclusions were based on the apparent dependence of the spectral width on the applied magnetic field 5 as well as abrupt changes in transverse relaxation time ( T 2 ) without concomitant changes in the longitudinal relaxation time ( T 1 ) at the bilayer phase boundaries 4,5 . The dependence of T 2 on pulse spacing in a Carr–Purcell experiment 6 has also been taken as evidence for molecular diffusion through internal magnetic field gradients 4 .
ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/231110a0