Asymmetrical membranes and surface tension

The (31)P-nuclear magnetic resonance chemical shift of phosphatidic acid in a membrane is sensitive to the lipid head group packing and can report qualitatively on membrane lateral compression near the aqueous interface. We have used high-resolution (31)P-nuclear magnetic resonance to evaluate the lateral compression on each side of asymmetrical lipid vesicles. When monooleoylphosphatidylcholine was added to the external monolayer of sonicated vesicles containing dioleoylphosphatidylcholine and dioleoylphosphatidic acid, the variation of (31)P chemical shift of phosphatidic acid indicated a lateral compression in the external monolayer. Simultaneously, a slight dilation was observed in the inner monolayer. In large unilamellar vesicles on the other hand the lateral pressure increased in both monolayers after asymmetrical insertion of monooleoylphosphatidylcholine. This can be explained by assuming that when monooleoylphosphatidylcholine is added to large unilamellar vesicles, the membrane bends until the strain is the same in both monolayers. In the case of sonicated vesicles, a change of curvature is not possible, and therefore differential packing in the two layers remains. We infer that a variation of lipid asymmetry by generating a lateral strain in the membrane can be a physiological way of modulating the conformation of membrane proteins.