Journal of Molecular Biology 1981-12-15

Glycerol conformation and molecular packing of membrane lipids. The crystal structure of 2,3-dilauroyl-D-glycerol.

I Pascher, S Sundell, H Hauser

Index: J. Mol. Biol. 153(3) , 791-806, (1981)

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Abstract

The single-crystal structure of 2,3-dilauroyl- d-glycerol has been determined by Patterson rotation and translation methods and refined to R = 0.069. 2,3-dilauroyl- d-glycerol crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P2 1, with unit cell dimensions: a = 5.46 A ̊ , b = 7.59 A ̊ , c = 34.2 A ̊ and β = 93.1 ° , and with two molecules per unit cell. The molecules have their hydrocarbon chains aligned parallel, and are arranged in a bilayer structure. The chain stacking is achieved by a bend in the fatty acid. The hydrocarbon chains pack according to the orthorhombic perpendicular chain packing mode, and are tilted 26.5 ° from the layer normal. The structural features of 2,3-dilauroyl- d-glycerol have been analysed with reference to the corresponding hydrophobic moieties in the crystal structures of different membrane lipids. The glycerol group in 2,3-dilauroyl- d-glycerol is oriented parallel to the layer plane, but changes to an approximately layer-perpendicular orientation when a polar group is attached. The molecular conformation of the glycerol-dicarboxylic ester group, however, is identical in both the absence and presence of a head group, indicating extensive conformational restrictions for this group due to both intrinsic properties and chain stacking. The gathered data provide detailed information on the structural properties of the hydrophobic moiety of membrane lipids.