High-Pressure Studies of Biomembranes by Vibrational Spectroscopy

Pressure-induced modifications of structural and dynamic properties in a series of lamellar, micellar and reversed micellar model biomembranes in water have been investigated by infrared and Raman spectroscopy. Examples of pressure-induced inter- and intrachain ordering processes, configuration distortion and changes in interchain packing in these systems are presented. Results are also given to demonstrate that high-pressure infrared spectroscopy is an efficient method to detect the presence of chain interdigitation in the bilayers and the presence of hydrogen bonds in the interfacial zone of biomembrane lipids.