Effects of nicotine on the thermodynamics of the DPPC phase coexistence region

Phase separation plays critical roles in several membrane functions, and reduction or disappearance of phase coexistence by action of membrane-interacting molecules have been implicated in membrane function impairment. Here, we applied differential scanning calorimetry, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), and non-linear least-squares (NLLS) spectral simulations to study the effects of nicotine, a parasympathomimetic drug, on the two-phase coexistence of dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine (DPPC) lipid membrane. The thermodynamic quantities describing the DPPC phase coexistence are temperature dependent, giving rise to non-linear vant Hoff behavior. Our results showed that nicotine preferentially binds to the fluid phase and modifies the enthalpy and entropy changes of the DPPC heat capacity profile, while marginally perturbing the homogeneous gel and fluid phases. An EPR/NLLS/vant Hoff analysis of the DPPC phase coexistence revealed that nicotine significantly modified the temperature dependence of the free energy change of the two-phase equilibrium from a cubic to a parabolic behavior, resulting in an alteration of the thermodynamical driving force and the balance of the non-covalent interactions of the lipids in equilibrium. The thermotropic behavior of the enthalpy, entropy, and heat capacity changes, as determined by EPR, indicated that nicotine modified the relative contributions of hydrogen-bonding, electrostatic interactions, and conformational entropy of the lipids to the thermodynamics of the phase coexistence. The predominantly entropically-driven gel-fluid transition in nicotine-free DPPC changes to a temperature-triggered entropically-driven or enthalpically-driven process in nicotine-bound DPPC. Further applications of this thermodynamic EPR/NLLS/vant Hoff analysis are discussed.