Affiliations: Department of Blood Research, Division of Military Casualty Research, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, MD, USA | Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Division of Experimental Therapeutics, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, MD, USA
Note: [] Corresponding author: Anthony Kennedy, Department of Blood Research, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA. Tel.: +1 301 319 7218; Fax: +1 301 319 9965; E‐mail: [email protected].
Abstract: The use of dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) as a cryoprotectant to reduce cellular injury during freezing is well known, however the intermolecular interactions between this amphiphilic molecule and biological membranes that form the basis of this protection are unknown. DMSO–dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) vesicle interactions were investigated in pulsed‐field gradient NMR (PFGNMR) experiments and spectra analysis allowed for the determination of self‐diffusion coefficients for each species present. The mole fraction of DMSO associated with the DPPC vesicles was then calculated from the diffusion coefficients: the mole fraction increased from 14% to 42% as the membrane was heated from below to above the main phase transition temperature.
Journal: Spectroscopy, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 265-269, 2004
