Infrared reflection-absorption of melittin interaction with phospholipid monolayers at the air/water interface

The interaction of melittin with monolayers of 1,2-dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine and 1,2-dipalmitoylphosphatidylserine has been investigated with infrared external reflection-absorption spectroscopy. Improved instrumentation permits determination of acyl chain conformation and peptide secondary structure in situ at the air/water interface. The IR frequency of the 1,2-dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine antisymmetric acyl chain CH2 stretching vibration decreases by 1,3 cm(-1) upon melittin insertion, consistent with acyl chain ordering, whereas the same vibrational mode increases by 0.5 cm(-1) upon peptide interaction with the 1,2-dipalmitoylphosphatidylserine monolayer, indicative of chain disordering. Thus the peptide interacts quite differently with zwitterionic compared with negatively charged monolayer surfaces. Melittin in the monolayer adopted a secondary structure with an amide I(I') frequency (1635 cm(-1)) dramatically different from the alpha-helical motif (amide I frequency 1656 cm(-1) in a dry or H2O hydrated environment, amide I' frequency 1645 cm(-1) in an H --> D exchanged alpha-helix) assumed in bilayer or multibilayer environments. This work represents the first direct in situ spectroscopic indication that peptide secondary structure in lipid monolayers may differ from that in bilayers.