Relationships between membrane water molecules and Patman equilibration kinetics at temperatures far above the phosphatidylcholine melting point.

The naphthalene-based fluorescent probes Patman and Laurdan detect bilayer polarity at the level of the phospholipid glycerol backbone. This polarity increases with temperature in the liquid-crystalline phase of phosphatidylcholines and was observed even 90°C above the melting temperature. This study explores mechanisms associated with this phenomenon.