Monolayer investigations on the bacterial amphiphile lipoteichoic acid and on lipoteichoic acid/dipalmitoyl-phosphatidylglycerol mixtures

Lipoteichoic acid (LTA) and mixtures of LTA with dipalmitoyldiphosphatidylglycerol (DPPG) were investigated with Langmuir-Blodgett techniques. In spite of its large hydrophilic portion LTA formed a monolayer when spread from a chloro-form/n-propanol/water system. In DPPG/LTA-mixed monolayers LTA influenced strongly the compression isotherms, indicating a stabilizing effect of LTA on DPPG monolayers. At higher concentrations of LTA phase separation was observed.