Orientation independent vibrational dynamics of lipid-bound interfacial water

Abstract

Zwitterionic phospholipids are one of the main constituents of biological membranes. The electric field associated with the two opposite headgroup charges aligns water molecules in the headgroup region. Here, we study the role of water alignment on the sub-picosecond vibrational dynamics of lipid-bound water. To this end, we compare the dynamics of oppositely oriented water associated with, respectively, a phosphocholine (PC) headgroup and an inverse-phosphocholine with non-ethylated phosphate groups (CP). We find that the dynamics are independent of the water orientation, implying that the vibrational dynamics report on the local properties of the water molecules.