Distribution of lipids in nonlamellar phases of their mixtures

We consider a model of lipids in which a head group, characterized by its volume, is attached to two flexible tails of equal length. The phase diagram of the anhydrous lipid is obtained within self-consistent field theory, and displays, as a function of lipid architecture, a progression of phases: body-centered cubic, hexagonal, gyroid, and lamellar. We then examine mixtures of an inverted hexagonal forming lipid and a lamellar forming lipid. As the volume fractions of the two lipids vary, we find that inverted hexagonal, gyroid, or lamellar phases are formed. We demonstrate that the nonlamellar forming lipid is found preferentially at locations that are difficult for the lipid tails to reach. Variations in the volume fraction of each type of lipid tail are on the order of one to ten percent within regions dominated by the tails. We also show that the variation in volume fraction is correlated qualitatively with the variation in mean curvature of the head-tail interface. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-9606(00)50513-3].