2nd Annual Academic Symposium - Ramya Yadavalli

Phospholipids in association with membrane proteins form an essential part of naturally occurring lipid membranes, usually present as lipid bilayers. Presence of a polar head group with hydrophobic tails renders them amphiphilic and various membranes differ in their polar head groups. DMPC, a synthetic zwitterion glycerophospholipid has long been used as a model to study lipid binding and effect of various drugs. Its saturated nature further makes it an eligible candidate to formulate stable liposome formulations. Previous works provide evidence for polymorphism of DMPC and hence a systematic physical-chemical characterization of pure DMPC will serve as a useful contribution to the literature and preformulation studies. Melting point apparatus, Thermogravimetric Analysis, Differential Scanning Calorimetry and Hot Stage Microscopy provide insight into the thermal profile whereas Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy and Powder X-Ray Diffractometry provide information about the functional groups and crystallinity of DMPC respectively. A similar approach is used to characterize and compare the fatty acid, myristic acid and its derivatives methyl myristate and 1-tetradecanol with DMPC.