Langmuir Monolayer Technique to Study Effects of Ionizing Radiations on the properties of phospholipids

Langmuir Monolayer Technique to Study Effects of Ionizing Radiations on the properties of phospholipids

Oral presentation

Nevena Tsarevska1, Philip Marinov2, Kristina Mircheva3, Petya Kovacheva2, Vlado Gelev4, Denitsa Radeva4 and Konstantin Balashev1,3.
1Medical University - Sofia, Bulgaria
2Medical University Pleven, Bulgaria
3Sofia University, Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy, Dept. Physical Chemistry, Bulgaria
4Sofia University, Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy, Dept. Pharmaceutical and Applied Organic Chemistry, Bulgaria

The main components of the cell membrane are phospholipids among which the most predominant is Dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine (DPPC). It is important to investigate how different chemical and physical agents influence and alter the phospholipid structure of the membrane. Motivated by this, we propose an experimental approach for studying the effect of ionizing radiation on the chemical structure and surface characteristics of DPPC, as a close approximation of a membrane, by using as a model system a Langmuir monolayer. For this purpose, the DPPC was dissolved in chloroform and then irradiated in a controlled fashion with radiation doses ranging from 60 to 180 Gy. As a second step, using Langmuir monolayer technique, we measured surface tension vs area per molecule isotherms of DPPC spread from chloroform solutions that were exposed to different radiation doses. In order to compare our results, we also performed IR and NMR analysis of the same samples. The results proved the sensitivity Langmuir monolayer technique as analytical experimental method.
Keywords: Ionizing radiation, DPPC, Langmuir monolayer technique, Radiation doses