Abstract
Solid-state deuterium and phosphorus-31 nuclear magnetic resonance studies of deuterium-labeled beta--[2,2',3,4,4',6-2H6]-cholesterol and 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine have been undertaken to monitor the action of melittin on model membranes containing 30 mol% cholesterol, both at the molecular and macroscopic level. Cholesterol totally inhibits the toxin-triggered formation of large unilamellar vesicles and strongly restricts the appearance of small discs. The latter remain stable over a wide temperature range (20-60 degrees C) because of an increase in their cholesterol content as the temperature increases. This process is related to a constant disc hydrophobic thickness of approximately 29 A. The system, when not in the form of discs, appears to be composed of very large vesicles on which melittin promotes magnetically induced ellipsoidal deformation. This deformation is the greatest when the maximum of discs is observed. A model to describe both the disc formation and stability is proposed.