Hydration of polyethylene glycol-grafted liposomes

This study aimed to characterize the effect of polyethylene glycol of 2000 molecular weight (PEG²⁰⁰⁰) attached to a dialkylphosphatidic acid (dihexadecylphosphatidyl (DHP)-PEG²⁰⁰⁰) on the hydration and thermodynamic stability of lipid assemblies. Differential scanning calorimetry, densitometry, and ultrasound velocity and absorption measurements were used for thermodynamic and hydrational characterization. Using a differential scanning calorimetry technique we showed that each molecule of PEG²⁰⁰⁰ binds 136 ± 4 molecules of water. For PEG²⁰⁰⁰ covalently attached to the lipid molecules organized in micelles, the water binding increases to 210 ± 6 water molecules. This demonstrates that the two different structural configurations of the PEG²⁰⁰⁰, a random coil in the case of the free PEG and a brush in the case of DHP-PEG²⁰⁰⁰ micelles, differ in their hydration level. Ultrasound absorption changes in liposomes reflect mainly the heterophase fluctuations and packing defects in the lipid bilayer. The PEG-induced excess ultrasound absorption of the lipid bilayer at 7.7 MHz for PEG-lipid concentrations over 5 mol % indicates the increase in the relaxation time of the headgroup rotation due to PEG-PEG interactions. The adiabatic compressibility (calculated from ultrasound velocity and density) of the lipid bilayer of the liposome increases monotonically with PEG-lipid concentration up to ~7 mol %, reflecting release of water from the lipid headgroup region. Elimination of this water, induced by grafted PEG, leads to a decrease in bilayer defects and enhanced lateral packing of the phospholipid acyl chains. We assume that the dehydration of the lipid headgroup region in conjunction with the increase of the hydration of the outer layer by grafting PEG in brush configuration are responsible for increasing thermodynamic stability of the liposomes at 5-7 mol % of PEG- lipid. At higher PEG-lipid concentrations, compressibility and partial volume of the lipid phase of the samples decrease. This reflects the increase in hydration of the lipid headgroup region (up to five additional water molecules per lipid molecule for 12 mol % PEG-lipid) and the weakening of the bilayer packing due to the lateral repulsion of PEG chains.