A statistical mechanical model of the lipid bilayer above its phase transition.

A statistical mechanical model of a bilayer of dipalmitoyl-3-sn-phosphatidylcholine molecules above their phase transition is presented. A molecular field approximation developed in previous work by Marcelja is extended by setting the molecular field at each depth in the bilayer in proportion to the average chain order at that depth. The free energy of the hydrocarbon/water interface and that due to the interaction of the polar headgroups is included in the evaluation of the statistical weights of the chain conformations. The model gives good agreement with several independent experimental results. It resolves the dilemma posed by the experimental evidence that there is (i) a considerable variation in order parameter along the lipid chain, but (ii) no collective tilt in the more ordered region of the chain. The model gives an explanation of how the lipid chains pack under these two constraints. The order parameter profile down the chain does not correspond to the profile across the bilayer.

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