Temperature and Chain Length Effects on Bending Elasticity of Phosphatidylcholine Bilayers

A strong decrease of the bilayer bending elastic modulus, kc, has been experimentally established for dimyristoyl and dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine, when the liquid-crystal-gel phase transition temperature is approached from above. This phenomenon may be due to local-curvature-induced changes in the transition temperature. In the liquid-crystal phase, the bending modulus, kc, significantly increases as a function of the lipid chain length for dilauryl, dimyristoyl and dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine.