The effect of some phenyltin compounds on the thermotropic phase behaviour and the structure of model membranes

Abstract

The effects of diphenyltin dichloride (DPhT), triphenyltin chloride (TPhT) and tetraphenyltin (TTPhT) on the thermotropic phase behaviour of phosphatidylcholine bilayers were studied. All the phenyltin compounds investigated affected phase transitions differently. TTPhT broadened the main phase transition but it left the transition temperatures and enthalpy unchanged. TPhT reduced the transition temperatures and the enthalpies while DPhT showed a dual effect on the pretransition and the main transition. At low concentrations DPhT reduced the temperatures of the transitions slightly and at higher concentrations it increased them. Based on differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and also 1H NMR and 31P NMR measurements, it is suggested that DPhT induces interdigitated gel phase formation and TPhT induces hexagonal phase formation. TTPhT seems to affect the structure only a little. The toxic activity of DPhT and TPhT seems to be connected with their ability to induce changes in the membrane structure. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.