Abstract

Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) was used to study the effect of the incorporation of a series of semifluorinated diblocks F n H m (F 6H 10, F 6H 16, F 8H 14, F 8H 16, F 8H 18 and F 8H 20) on the gel and liquid states of the bilayer of large multilamellar DMPC and DPPC liposomes. The presence of the F n H m diblocks affects slightly the T m of the main gel–liquid transitions of DMPC and DPPC, but is accompanied by the appearance of a second transition in the calorimetric traces whose T m is mainly determined by the length of the F n segment. The DSC results are consistent with the previously established conclusion that the F n segments of the diblocks form a central layer in the core of the lipid bilayer, with the H m segments being interdigitated with the lipid chains. The DSC traces suggest that the structure of the fluorinated liposomes is a double bilayer at 3:4 and 1:2 and a trilayer at 2:1 lipid/F n H m molar ratios. At temperatures between the two phase transitions T m ’s, the fluorinated liposomes are neither in a gel-like or a liquid-like state but rather posses both characteristics.

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