Search results for "Bilayer"
showing 10 items of 391 documents
Solid State NMR Structure Analysis of the Antimicrobial Peptide Gramicidin S in Lipid Membranes: Concentration-Dependent Re-alignment and Self-Assemb…
2008
Antimicrobial peptides can kill bacteria by permeabilizing their cell membrane, as these amphiphilicmolecules interact favourably with lipid bilayers. This mechanism of action is attributed eitherto the formation of a peptide “carpet” on the membrane surface, or to a transmembranepore. However, the structure of such a pore has not yet been resolved under relevant conditions.Gramicidin S is a symmetrical cyclic β-sheet decapeptide, which has been previouslyshown by solid state NMR to lie flat on the membrane surface at low peptide:lipid ratios (≤ 1:80).Using highly sensitive 19F-NMR, supported by 15N-labelling,we found that gramicidin S can flip into an upright transmembrane alignment at hig…
Cationic Au Nanoparticle Binding with Plasma Membrane-like Lipid Bilayers: Potential Mechanism for Spontaneous Permeation to Cells Revealed by Atomis…
2014
Despite being chemically inert as a bulk material, nanoscale gold can pose harmful side effects to living organisms. In particular, cationic Au nanoparticles (AuNP+) of 2 nm diameter or less permeate readily through plasma membranes and induce cell death. We report atomistic simulations of cationic Au nanoparticles interacting with realistic membranes and explicit solvent using a model system that comprises two cellular compartments, extracellular and cytosolic, divided by two asymmetric lipid bilayers. The membrane-AuNP+ binding and membrane reorganization processes are discovered to be governed by cooperative effects where AuNP+, counterions, water, and the two membrane leaflets all contr…
Block copolymers in giant unilamellar vesicles with proteins or with phospholipids
2013
Biocompatible, highly water-soluble, nonionic, amphiphilic block copolymers having different hydrophobic blocks and architectures, but similar molecular size and chemical nature of the hydrophilic blocks, were investigated to check for their ability to form hybrid giant unilamellar vesicles with proteins, and for their interactions with giant unilamellar phospholipid vesicles (GUV). PGM14-b-PPO34-b-PGM14 (PGM-PPO-PGM) consists of a poly(propylene oxide) middle block and outer poly(glycerol monomethacrylate) blocks. Ch-PEG32-b-lPG18 (Ch-PEG-lPG) and Ch-PEG30-b-hbPG17 (Ch-PEG-hbPG) have a linear poly(ethylene glycol) block, linked to a cholesterol end group and to a linear (lPG) or hyperbranc…
Atomic Force Microscopy: Interaction Forces Measured in Phospholipid Monolayers, Bilayers, and Cell Membranes
2009
Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is a powerful technique which is commonly used to image surfaces at the nanoscale and single-molecule level, as well as to investigate physical properties of the sample surface using a technique known as force spectroscopy. In this chapter, we review our recent research where we used AFM to investigate physical properties of phospholipid monolayers, bilayers, and cell membranes. We describe the experimental procedures for AFM imaging, force measurements, and theoretical models to analyze force spectroscopy data. The data obtained allowed correlations between AFM topography and local adhesion and mechanoelastic properties of supported lipid bilayers in water, su…
Studies on the interaction of C1q,a subcomponent of the first component of complement, with porins fromSalmonella minnesotaincorporated into artifici…
1990
AbstractPurified outer membrane proteins (OMP) of Salmonella minnesota, Re-form, were incorporated into liposomes. These induced in macrophages a chemiluminescence signal identical to that of the intact Re-form. This signal was abolished by preincubation of porin-containing liposomes with purified C1q. Incorporation of isolated OMP into black lipid membranes (BLM) resulted in channel-formation which could not be inhibited by isolated C1q. Additionally, incubation of OMP-containing liposomes with BLM resulted in pore-formation within the BLM. This was amplified when lipid A was present within the liposomes. Preincubation of OMP-containing liposomes with purified C1q abolished pore-formation …
Liposomes modified by mono- and bis-phthalocyanines: A comprehensive EPR study.
2016
The impact of selected metallophthalocyanines, featuring diverse molecular structure, upon the fluidity of liposome membranes was studied using the spin label EPR technique. The “mono”-type MPc’s (M = Zn, Sn; Pc = C32H16N8 is the phthalocyanine ligand) and sandwich LnPc2 complexes (Ln = Nd, Sm, Gd) were explored. Liposomes were obtained in a sonication process, from egg yolk lecithin (EYL) in water. TEMPO and 16-DOXYL spin labels were used to monitor the peripheral and central part of the lipid double layer, respectively, which allowed to localize the phthalocyanine additive within the bilayer, as well as to perform independent measurements of changes in fluidity upon addition thereof. All …
Cooperativity of Protein Binding to Vesicles
2011
Electrostatics role is studied in protein adsorption to phosphatidylcholine (PC) and PC/phosphatidylglycerol (PG) small unilamellar vesicles (SUVs). Protein interaction is monitored vs. PG content at low ionic strength. Adsorption of lysozyme, myoglobin and bovine serum albumin (BSA) isoelectric point (pI) is investigated in SUVs, along with changes in protein fluorescence emission spectra. Partition coefficients and cooperativity parameters are calculated. At pI, binding is maximum while at lower/higher pHs binding drops. In Gouy–Chapman model activity coefficient goes with square charge number, which deviations indicate asymmetric location of anionic lipid in the bilayer inner leaflet, in…
Viroporins, Examples of the Two-Stage Membrane Protein Folding Model
2015
Viroporins are small, α-helical, hydrophobic virus encoded proteins, engineered to form homo-oligomeric hydrophilic pores in the host membrane. Viroporins participate in multiple steps of the viral life cycle, from entry to budding. As any other membrane protein, viroporins have to find the way to bury their hydrophobic regions into the lipid bilayer. Once within the membrane, the hydrophobic helices of viroporins interact with each other to form higher ordered structures required to correctly perform their porating activities. This two-step process resembles the two-stage model proposed for membrane protein folding by Engelman and Poppot. In this review we use the membrane protein folding …
Nitrated Fatty Acids Modulate the Physical Properties of Model Membranes and the Structure of Transmembrane Proteins
2017
Nitrated fatty acids (NO2 -FAs) act as anti-inflammatory signal mediators, albeit the molecular mechanisms behind NO2 -FAs' influence on diverse metabolic and signaling pathways in inflamed tissues are essentially elusive. Here, we combine fluorescence measurements with surface-specific sum frequency generation vibrational spectroscopy and coarse-grained computer simulations to demonstrate that NO2 -FAs alter lipid organization by accumulation at the membrane-water interface. As the function of membrane proteins strongly depends on both, protein structure as well as membrane properties, we consecutively follow the structural dynamics of an integral membrane protein in presence of NO2 -FAs. …
Investigation of the dynamics of bacteriorhodopsin
1990
Bacteriorhodopsin (bR) converted to the blue form by deionization has been reconstituted to the active purple membrane by addition of57Fe ions. Mossbauer spectra measured in a wide temperature range reveal Fe3+ binding places with oxygen atoms in the neighbourhood. No evidence for a well defined functional binding place of the iron has been found. On a timescale faster 100 ns the purple membrane shows increasing flexibility above 200 K. In order to analyse the influence of the lipids, a bacteriorhodopsin sample where the lipid content has been increased artificially by the incorporation of DMPC as well as a sample consisting of lipid bilayer have been investigated.