The influence of n-alkanols and cholesterol on the duration and conductance of gramicidin single channels in monoolein bilayers

Screening for bilayer-active and likely cytotoxic molecules reveals bilayer-mediated regulation of cell function

A perennial problem encountered when using small molecules (drugs) to manipulate cell or protein function is to assess whether observed changes in function result from specific interactions with a desired target or from less specific off-target mechanisms. This is important in laboratory research as well as in drug development, where the goal is to identify molecules that are unlikely to be successful therapeutics early in the process, thereby avoiding costly mistakes. We pursued this challenge from the perspective that many bioactive molecules (drugs) are amphiphiles that alter lipid bilayer elastic properties, which may cause indiscriminate changes in membrane protein (and cell) function and, in turn, cytotoxicity. Such drug-induced changes in bilayer properties can be quantified as changes in the monomer↔dimer equilibrium for bilayer-spanning gramicidin channels. Using this approach, we tested whether molecules in the Pathogen Box (a library of 400 drugs and drug-like molecules with confirmed activity against tropical diseases released by Medicines for Malaria Venture to encourage the development of therapies for neglected tropical diseases) are bilayer modifiers. 32% of the molecules in the Pathogen Box were bilayer modifiers, defined as molecules that at 10 µM shifted the monomer↔dimer equilibrium toward the conducting dimers by at least 50%. Correlation analysis of the molecules' reported HepG2 cell cytotoxicity to bilayer-modifying potency, quantified as the shift in the gramicidin monomer↔dimer equilibrium, revealed that molecules producing <25% change in the equilibrium had significantly lower probability of being cytotoxic than molecules producing >50% change. Neither cytotoxicity nor bilayer-modifying potency (quantified as the shift in the gramicidin monomer↔dimer equilibrium) was well predicted by conventional physico-chemical descriptors (hydrophobicity, polar surface area, etc.). We conclude that drug-induced changes in lipid bilayer properties are robust predictors of the likelihood of membrane-mediated off-target effects, including cytotoxicity.

Lipid nanodomains change ion channel function

Signaling proteins and neurotransmitter receptors often associate with saturated chain and cholesterol-rich domains of cell membranes, also known as lipid rafts. The saturated chains and high cholesterol environment in lipid rafts can modulate protein function, but evidence for such modulation of ion channel function in lipid rafts is lacking. Here, using raft-forming model membrane systems containing cholesterol, we show that lipid lateral phase separation at the nanoscale level directly affects the dissociation kinetics of the gramicidin dimer, a model ion channel.

Direct in situ measurement of specific capacitance, monolayer tension, and bilayer tension in a droplet interface bilayer

Thickness and tension are important physical parameters of model cell membranes. However, traditional methods to measure these quantities require multiple experiments using separate equipment. This work introduces a new multi-step procedure for directly accessing in situ multiple physical properties of droplet interface bilayers (DIB), including specific capacitance (related to thickness), lipid monolayer tension in the Plateau-Gibbs border, and bilayer tension. The procedure employs a combination of mechanical manipulation of bilayer area followed by electrowetting of the capacitive interface to examine the sensitivities of bilayer capacitance to area and contact angle to voltage, respectively. These data allow for determining the specific capacitance of the membrane and surface tension of the lipid monolayer, which are then used to compute bilayer thickness and tension, respectively. The use of DIBs affords accurate optical imaging of the connected droplets in addition to electrical measurements of bilayer capacitance, and it allows for reversibly varying bilayer area. After validating the accuracy of the technique with diphytanoyl phosphatidylcholine (DPhPC) DIBs in hexadecane, the method is applied herein to quantify separately the effects on membrane thickness and tension caused by varying the solvent in which the DIB is formed and introducing cholesterol into the bilayer. Because the technique relies only on capacitance measurements and optical images to determine both thickness and tension, this approach is specifically well-suited for studying the effects of peptides, biomolecules, natural and synthetic nanoparticles, and other species that accumulate within membranes without altering bilayer conductance.

Alcohol's effects on lipid bilayer properties

Alcohols are known modulators of lipid bilayer properties. Their biological effects have long been attributed to their bilayer-modifying effects, but alcohols can also alter protein function through direct protein interactions. This raises the question: Do alcohol's biological actions result predominantly from direct protein-alcohol interactions or from general changes in the membrane properties? The efficacy of alcohols of various chain lengths tends to exhibit a so-called cutoff effect (i.e., increasing potency with increased chain length, which that eventually levels off). The cutoff varies depending on the assay, and numerous mechanisms have been proposed such as: limited size of the alcohol-protein interaction site, limited alcohol solubility, and a chain-length-dependent lipid bilayer-alcohol interaction. To address these issues, we determined the bilayer-modifying potency of 27 aliphatic alcohols using a gramicidin-based fluorescence assay. All of the alcohols tested (with chain lengths of 1-16 carbons) alter the bilayer properties, as sensed by a bilayer-spanning channel. The bilayer-modifying potency of the short-chain alcohols scales linearly with their bilayer partitioning; the potency tapers off at higher chain lengths, and eventually changes sign for the longest-chain alcohols, demonstrating an alcohol cutoff effect in a system that has no alcohol-binding pocket.

Lipid bilayer regulation of membrane protein function: gramicidin channels as molecular force probes

Membrane protein function is regulated by the host lipid bilayer composition. This regulation may depend on specific chemical interactions between proteins and individual molecules in the bilayer, as well as on non-specific interactions between proteins and the bilayer behaving as a physical entity with collective physical properties (e.g. thickness, intrinsic monolayer curvature or elastic moduli). Studies in physico-chemical model systems have demonstrated that changes in bilayer physical properties can regulate membrane protein function by altering the energetic cost of the bilayer deformation associated with a protein conformational change. This type of regulation is well characterized, and its mechanistic elucidation is an interdisciplinary field bordering on physics, chemistry and biology. Changes in lipid composition that alter bilayer physical properties (including cholesterol, polyunsaturated fatty acids, other lipid metabolites and amphiphiles) regulate a wide range of membrane proteins in a seemingly non-specific manner. The commonality of the changes in protein function suggests an underlying physical mechanism, and recent studies show that at least some of the changes are caused by altered bilayer physical properties. This advance is because of the introduction of new tools for studying lipid bilayer regulation of protein function. The present review provides an introduction to the regulation of membrane protein function by the bilayer physical properties. We further describe the use of gramicidin channels as molecular force probes for studying this mechanism, with a unique ability to discriminate between consequences of changes in monolayer curvature and bilayer elastic moduli.

Sensitized photoinactivation of minigramicidin channels in bilayer lipid membranes

The method of sensitized photoinactivation based on the photosensitized damage of gramicidin A (gA) molecules was applied here to study ionic channels formed by minigramicidin (the 11-residue analogue of gramicidin A) in a planar bilayer lipid membrane (BLM) of different thickness. Irradiation of BLM with a single flash of visible light in the presence of a photosensitizer (aluminum phthalocyanine or Rose Bengal) generating singlet oxygen provoked a decrease in the minigramicidin-induced electric current across BLM, the kinetics of which had the characteristic time of several seconds, as observed with gA. For gA, there is good correlation between the characteristic time of photoinactivation and the single-channel lifetime. In contrast to the covalent dimer of gA characterized by extremely long single-channel lifetime and the absence of current relaxation upon flash excitation, the covalent head-to-head dimer of minigramicidin displayed the flash-induced current decrease with the kinetics being strongly dependent on the membrane thickness. The current decrease became slower both upon increasing the concentration of the minigramicidin covalent dimer and upon including cholesterol in the membrane composition. These data in combination with the quadratic dependence of the current on the peptide concentration can be rationalized by hypothesizing that the macroscopic current across BLM measured at high concentrations of the peptide is provided by dimers of minigramicidin covalent dimers in the double beta(5.7)-helical conformation having the lifetime of about 0.4 s, while single channels with the lifetime of 0.01 s, observed at a very low peptide concentration, correspond to the single-stranded beta(6.3)-helical conformation. Alternatively the results can be explained by clustering of channels at high concentrations of the minigramicidin covalent dimer.

Interactions of anesthetics with their targets: non-specific, specific or both?

What makes a general anesthetic a general anesthetic? We shall review first what general anesthesia is all about and which drugs are being used as anesthetics. There is neither a unique definition of general anesthesia nor any consensus on how to measure it. Diverse drugs and combinations of drugs generate general anesthetic states of sometimes very different clinical quality. Yet the principal drugs are still considered to belong to the same class of 'general anesthetics'. Effective concentrations of inhalation anesthetics are in the high micromolar range and above, and even for intravenous anesthetics they do not go below the micromolar range. At these concentrations, many molecular and higher level targets are affected by inhalation anesthetics, fewer probably by intravenous anesthetics. The only physicochemical characteristic shared by anesthetics is the correlation of their anesthetic potencies with hydrophobicity. These correlations depend on the group of general anesthetics considered. In this review, anesthetic potencies for many different targets are plotted against octanol/water partition coefficients as measure of hydrophobicity. Qualitatively, similar correlations result, suggesting several but weak interactions with proteins as being characteristic of anesthetic actions. The polar interactions involved are weak, being roughly equal in magnitude to hydrophobic interactions. Generally, intravenous anesthetics are noticeably more potent than inhalation anesthetics. They differ considerably more between each other in their interactions with various targets than inhalation anesthetics do, making it difficult to come to a decision which of these should be used in future studies as representative 'prototypical general anesthetics'.

Photodynamic inactivation of gramicidin channels:a flash-photolysis study

Photosensitized inactivation of ionic channels formed by gramicidin in the planar bilayer lipid membrane (BLM) has been studied upon exposure of the BLM to single flashes of visible light in the presence of tetrasulphonated aluminium phthalocyanine. The gramicidin photoinactivation is inhibited by the addition of unsaturated phospholipids to the membrane-forming solution as well as by the addition of azide to the bathing solution, consistent with involvement of singlet oxygen. The characteristic time of the photoinactivation (tau) does not change markedly under these conditions. Moreover, tau remains nearly constant upon alteration of the flash energy and the photosensitizer concentration. The value of tau appears to be sensitive to the gramicidin concentration and to the factors affecting the open time of the gramicidin channels, namely the temperature and the solvent used in the membrane-forming solution. The photoinactivation is not observed with covalent gramicidin dimers. The equations derived from the model of Bamberg and Laeuger (J. Membrane Biol. (1973) 11, 177-194), describing the relaxation of the gramicidin-induced conductance after a sudden distortion of the dimer-monomer equilibrium, are shown to explain consistently the time course of the photoinactivation provided that the damage of the gramicidin molecules leads to deviation from the equilibrium.

Effects of acyl chain length on the conformation of myelin basic protein bound to lysolipid micelles

The interactions of myelin basic protein with micelles of lysophosphatidylcholine detergents of different acyl chain lengths were investigated by circular dichroism (CD), small-angle X-ray scattering, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and 1H, 13C and 31P nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR). Circular dichroic, FT-IR, and 1H NMR measurements indicated that the conformational changes induced in the protein molecules by association with micelles depended on the acyl chain length of the detergents. Size is one of the physical properties of micelles which is a function of the length of the acyl chains. The radii of gyration of detergent micelles in complexes with the protein measured by small-angle X-ray scattering indicated that the average size of the micelles was a quadratic function of the acyl chain length. The dependence of the protein conformational changes on micelle size was used to ascertain the order in which different protein segments associate with the detergents. Several procedures were employed to change the fluidity of micelles formed with detergents of given acyl chain lengths. The conformational changes observed on the MBP molecule by varying the micelle properties without changing the length of the chain, suggested that the changes depended on the size and fluidity of the micelles.

Cholesterol enrichment increases basal and agonist-stimulated calcium influx in rat vascular smooth muscle cells

The effect of cholesterol enrichment on vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) calcium homeostasis was studied by evaluating calcium uptake, efflux, and intracellular content in cultured VSMC derived from the rat pulmonary artery. Incubation of VSMC with liposomes consisting of free cholesterol (FC) and phospholipid (2:1 molar ratio, 1 mg FC/ml medium) for 24 h resulted in a 69 +/- 19% increase (P less than 0.01; n = 10) in FC which was associated with a 73 +/- 11% increase (P less than 0.005; n = 10) in intracellular calcium content as assessed by isotopic equilibrium with 45Ca2+ and a 65 +/- 11% increase (P less than 0.024; n = 3) as assessed by atomic absorption spectroscopy. Cholesterol enrichment caused a marked increase in the unidirectional calcium uptake rate from 0.026 +/- 0.03 to 0.158 +/- 0.022 nmol calcium/s per mg protein (P less than 0.01; n = 3), but had no effect on calcium efflux. Nifedipine (1 microM) reduced (P less than 0.05; n = 6) the effect of cholesterol enrichment on unidirectional calcium uptake by 78 +/- 16%; and verapamil (10 microM), diltiazem (1 microM), and nifedipine (1 microM) each significantly inhibited the effect of cholesterol enrichment on intracellular calcium accumulation. Exposure of cholesterol-enriched VSMC to cholesterol-poor liposomes for 24 h returned both FC and calcium contents to control levels. Serum- and serotonin-stimulated calcium uptakes were potentiated 3.7- and 1.7-fold, respectively, in cholesterol-enriched VSMC, whereas endothelin, vasopressin, and thrombin-stimulated calcium uptakes were not affected. We conclude that VSMC FC content plays a role in regulating cellular calcium homeostasis, both under basal conditions and in response to selected agonists.

Excess membrane cholesterol alters calcium channels in arterial smooth muscle

We studied the effects of cholesterol enrichment on arterial function by evaluating its effects on 45Ca2+ uptake and tension development in the carotid artery of the rabbit. Arterial segments were enriched with cholesterol in vitro, using media containing liposomes composed of free (unesterified) cholesterol (FC) and phospholipid (PL) in a 2:1 molar ratio. Control segments were simultaneously perfused with 0.5:1 liposomal medium to compare the possible effects of PL. Rings from these arteries were then tested for basal and activated Ca2+ uptake and for contractile responses to norepinephrine (NE) and KCl. We found elevated 45Ca2+ uptake under basal and NE-activated conditions along with an increased contractile sensitivity (4-fold) to NE. These alterations correlated with a 78% increase in the FC/PL ratio reflecting cholesterol enrichment of cellular membranes. Cholesterol enrichment did not alter resting or maximal tensions, K+-activated Ca2+ uptake, or contractile sensitivity to K+. Pretreatment with 1 microM diltiazem abolished the cholesterol-induced increase in basal as well as NE-activated 45Ca2+ uptake but had no effect on either uptake in control vessels. These studies suggest that excess membrane cholesterol selectively increases NE contractile sensitivity by increasing basal or NE-activated Ca2+ influx (or both) as a result of fundamental alteration in the calcium channels in arterial smooth muscle cell membrane.

Cholesterol-dependent gramicidin A channel inactivation in red blood cell membranes and lipid bilayer membranes

The exchange diffusions of tracer cations (22Na+, 86Rb+) are studied on gramicidin-A-treated red blood cell (RBC) membranes. A time-dependent decrease in cation permeability has been observed and has been considered to be the result of a channel inactivation process. The channel inactivation appears at 20 and 30 degrees C but not at a temperature as low as 6 degrees C. The gramicidin A channel inactivation can be monitored by a conductivity decay of molecular lipid membranes (BLM) prepared either from cholesterol or from a mixture of cholesterol and phospholipids but not of pure phosphatidylethanolamine. The role of cholesterol in the channel inactivation is discussed.

Influence of cholesterol on gramicidin-induced HII phase formation in phosphatidylcholine model membranes

The influence of cholesterol incorporation on gramicidin-induced hexagonal HII phase formation in different phosphatidylcholine model systems was investigated by 31P- and 2H-NMR, small-angle X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry. In liquid-crystalline distearoylphosphatidylcholine systems cholesterol inhibits gramicidin-induced HII phase formation. In dioleoylphosphatidylcholine the opposite effect is observed. Cholesterol appears to preferentially interact with gramicidin under liquid-crystalline conditions in both systems. Two phenomena that had been reported for gramicidin-treated erythrocyte membranes and derived liposomes (Tournois, H., Leunissen-Bijvelt, J., Haest, C.W.M., De Gier, J. and De Kruijff, B. (1987) Biochemistry, 26, 6613-6621) could also be observed in more simple dioleoylphosphatidylcholine-gramicidin-cholesterol systems. These are (i) an increase in tube diameter in the gramicidin-induced HII phase with increasing temperature, which is ascribed to the presence of cholesterol in this phase, and (ii) the loss of the hexagonal HII phase related 31P-NMR line shape at lower temperatures despite the presence of this phase as demonstrated with X-ray diffraction. This latter phenomenon appears to be due to restrictions in the rate of lateral diffusion of the phospholipids around the HII tubes due to the presence of gramicidin.

Gramicidin A--phospholipid model systems

Gramicidin A forms ion-conducting channels which can traverse the hydrocarbon core of lipid bilayer membranes. The structures formed by gramicidin A are among the best characterized of all membrane-bound polypeptides or proteins. In this review a brief summary is given of the occurrence, conformation, and synthesis of gramicidin A, and of its use as a model for ion transport and the interaction of proteins and lipids in biological membranes.

Surface potential changes in lipid monolayers and the 'cut-off' in anaesthetic effects of N-alkanols

The effects of 0.09 saturated solutions of the n-alkanols n-hexanol to n-tridecanol on the surface (compensation) potential of lipid monolayers have been examined. Actions on monolayers spread from pure egg phosphatidylcholine have been compared with effects on a system containing 2:1 mole ratio of egg phosphatidylcholine and cholesterol. The mean compensation potential for the pure phospholipid system was 475 +/- 9 mV; addition of cholesterol increased the potential to 503 +/- 10 mV. All n-alkanols tested reduced the surface potential in both systems. The reduction was larger in the pure phospholipid system but the difference in effect between lipid systems declined as the n-alkanol chainlength increased, becoming negligible by n-tridecanol. These results are considered in relation to the 'cut-off' in biological activity of n-alkanols around n-tridecanol.

The actions of some general anaesthetics on the potassium current of the squid giant axon

A number of small organic molecules with general anaesthetic action have been examined for their effects on the voltage-dependent potassium current of the squid giant axon. They include representatives of the three classes of anaesthetics examined in previous studies on the sodium current (Haydon & Urban, 1983a, b, c), i.e. the non-polar molecules n-pentane, cyclopentane and CCl4, several n-alkanols and the inhalation anaesthetics chloroform, halothane, diethyl ether and methoxyflurane. Potassium currents under voltage clamp were recorded in intact and in intracellularly perfused axons before, during and after exposure to the test substances, and the records were fitted with equations similar to those proposed by Hodgkin & Huxley (1952). Shifts in the curves of the steady-state activation against membrane potential and reductions in the potassium conductance at 60 or 70 mV membrane potential have been tabulated. On the same intact axons, all the anaesthetics with the exception of methoxyflurane reduced potassium currents less than sodium currents by about a factor of two or more. For the n-alkanols, butanol to decanol, the concentrations required to reduce the potassium current at 60 mV membrane potential by 50% were determined. For n-butanol to n-heptanol, the standard free energy per CH2 for adsorption to the site of action was estimated to be -2.91 kJ mol-1 as compared with -3.04 kJ mol-1 for reduction of the sodium current. The magnitude of the free energy decreased for alkanols with longer chain lengths. At anaesthetic concentrations that reduce the sodium current by 50%, the hydrophobic substances n-pentane and cyclopentane reduced the maximal sodium conductance, gNa, and the potassium conductance at 70 mV, gK70, equally by about a third, while the n-alkanols reduced both parameters by less than 10%. By contrast, diethyl ether and methoxyflurane were more effective in reducing the maximal potassium conductance. All of the test substances examined, except n-pentane and n-hexane, shifted the voltage dependence of the potassium steady-state activation in the depolarizing direction. A broad qualitative correlation was found between the shifts in the activation curves for sodium and potassium currents but, quantitatively, the agreement between the two shifts was poor. In n-decanol and methoxyflurane solutions, the voltage-clamped potassium currents exhibited pronounced inactivation-like behaviour. These currents can be fitted by the Hodgkin-Huxley formalism if an inactivation term analogous to the sodium current inactivation is added.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Infrared spectroscopic studies on gramicidin ion-channels: relation to the mechanisms of anesthesia

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic studies are reported on gramicidin ion-channels in phospholipid bilayers and the effects on the spectra of the anesthetics and related compounds (methoxyflurane, halothane, chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, n-pentane and n-decane) have been determined. The addition of anesthetics containing the 'acidic hydrogen' caused unique changes particularly on the amide I bands at 1639 cm-1 and 1670 cm-1. The 1639 cm-1 band became more intense while the intensity near 1670 cm-1 decreased dramatically. These effects were not observed with carbon tetrachloride, n-pentane and n-decane. The 1670 cm-1 band is interpreted as arising from the carbonyls involved in the head-to-head hydrogen-bonded dimerization where the relationship between chains is analogous to that of the antiparallel beta-pleated sheet structure and the anesthetics with 'acidic hydrogens' are considered to disrupt the hydrogen-bonded dimerization by competitive hydrogen bonding to the carbonyls at the head-to-head junction. As the dimer-monomer equilibrium is the 'on-off' mechanism for gramicidin ion-channel conductance, the results are considered in terms of the mechanism of action of anesthetics and are taken to suggest, for certain anesthetics, a hydrogen-bonding role to protein ion-channel components.

Blocking and modifying actions of octanol on Na channels in frog myelinated nerve

The actions of externally applied n-octanol on Na channels in myelinated frog nerve fibres were studied under voltage clamp conditions. Upon octanol application peak Na inward currents declined in two phases: 90% of the reduction occurred in less than 2 min but a steady-state was reached only after 15 min. During washout the currents came to a stable level within 10 min. The reduction of Na inward currents by octanol was dependent on the amplitude and duration of prepotentials. At the resting potential (VH = 0 mV) 0.4 mM octanol reduced peak Na inward currents at V = 60 mV by 50%. After a prepulse of -60 mV and 50 ms duration Na currents decreased only by 20%. At a hyperpolarizing holding potential of VH = -28 mV 0.7 mM octanol reduced peak inward Na currents to one half. Octanol depressed Na currents at all potentials by approximately the same factor. The Na reversal potential VNa remained unchanged. 0.7 mM external octanol shifted the Na activation curve m infinity (V) by 5 mV to more positive and the inactivation curve h infinity (V) by 14 mV to more negative potentials. The midpoint slopes of both curves were reduced. The time constants of Na activation and inactivation at small depolarizations were decreased. The conductance gamma of a single Na channel and the number No of conducting Na channels per node were determined from nonstationary Na current fluctuations. 0.7 mM octanol increased gamma by a factor of 1.6 and reduced No by a factor of 0.34. It is concluded that octanol blocks some Na channels and modifies the remaining unblocked channels.

Deuterium NMR study of the effect of n-alkanol anesthetics on a model membrane system

The effects of 25 mol% incorporation of two anesthetics, 1-octanol and 1-decanol, on a deuterated, saturated phospholipid in 50 wt% aqueous multilamellar dispersions have been studied by 2H-NMR spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The phospholipid used is sn-2 substituted '[2H31]-palmitoylphosphatidylcholine' (PC-d31). DSC thermograms demonstrate that PC-d31 has phase behavior qualitatively similar to that of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine, with a pretransition at 31 degrees C and a main gel to liquid crystalline transition at 40 degrees C. Analysis of the temperature-dependent 2H-NMR spectra in terms of the first moment, which is extremely sensitive to the phospholipid phase, shows that 1-octanol and 1-decanol depress and broaden the main transition. This is confirmed by DSC, which shows that the pretransition is eliminated by the 1-alkanols. The carbon-deuterium bond order of the phospholipid deuterated acyl chains, in the presence and absence of 1-alkanols, was determined from deuterium quadrupolar splittings. Spectra were analyzed using the depaking technique. A 1-alkanol concentration of 25 mol% had no significant effect on the profile of the carbon-deuterium bond order parameter SCD along the phospholipid acyl chain at 50 degrees C. Thus, it appears that the liquid crystalline phase is able to accommodate large amounts of linear anesthetic molecules without substantial effect on molecular ordering within the membrane bilayer. Preliminary results show that the transverse relaxation rates of the acyl chain segments are significantly decreased by the presence of 1-octanol or 1-decanol.

A quantitative explanation of the effects of some alcohols on gramicidin single-channel lifetime

The effects of n-decanol, n-hexadecanol, n-octyl(oxyethylene)3 alcohol and cholesterol on gramicidin single-channel lifetime in planar lipid bilayers have been determined. The bilayers used were formed from a solution of monoolein in squalene. Measurements have also been made of the above compounds' effects on membrane thickness (as measured by electrical capacity and optical reflectance technique) and surface tension (as derived from bulk interfacial tension and bilayer-lens contact angle measurements). The reduction in single-channel lifetime caused by the n-alkanols may be accounted for quantitatively in terms of the effects of these compounds on bilayer thickness and surface tension. The n-octyl(oxyethylene)3 alcohol caused an increase in single-channel lifetime which is also consistent with the thickness/tension theory. The reduction in channel lifetime caused by cholesterol, however, was much larger than would be predicted from its effects on bilayer thickness and surface tension.

The influence of n-alkanols on the capacity per unit area of planar lipid bilayers

The electrical capacities per unit area of planar lipid bilayers formed from monoolein/n-hexadecane, monoolein/ squalane (or squalene) and monoolein/triolein have been measured in the presence of a range of n-alkanols. For monoolein/n-hexadecane bilayers, the effects of the n-alkanols are complicated but can be rationalized in terms of the likely changes in lipid chain order and the influence of the n-alkanol in the Plateau-Gibbs border. Monoolein/ squalane (or squalene) and monoolein/triolein bilayers exhibit behaviour quite different from the n-hexadecane membranes. For both the squalane and triolein bilayers the shorter chain alkanols increase the capacity per unit area while the longer homologues have little effect. These results help to account for the influence of the n-alkanols on gramicidin single-channel lifetimes.

Postsynaptic actions of ethanol and methanol in crayfish neuromuscular junctions

Actions of ethanol and methanol on excitatory postsynaptic channels activated by quisqualate were investigated in opener muscles from the first walking leg and the claw of crayfish. Both ethanol and methanol reduced the elementary currents [i] that flow through channels operated by quisqualate in a concentration-dependent manner but did not affect the apparent mean open time, tau noise, of the channels estimated from power spectra. 0.26 mol/l ethanol, or 1 mol/l methanol, respectively, reduced [i] e-fold. Ethanol also markedly decreased the size and the decay time constant tau (sEPSCs) of spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic currents (sEPSCs). At ten fibres, on the average, 0.26 mol/l ethanol decreased tau (sEPSCs) by a factor 1.56 +/- 0.24 (SD). tau (sIPSCs) and tau noise of inhibitory postsynaptic currents apparently were not affected by ethanol. Moreover the size of elementary inhibitory postsynaptic currents did not decrease in the presence of this alcohol. Thus, in crayfish opener muscles ethanol seems to selectively depress excitatory postsynaptic currents.

GM1 micelles modify the transport properties of the ionophore gramicidin D in artificial planar bilayers

We have analyzed the effects induced in different phospholipid planar bilayers by monosialoganglioside micelles containing the ionophore gramicidin D. The membrane conductance increases after the addition of GM1 micelles at various ionophore/ganglioside ratios. We believe this fact may be ascribed to gramicidin molecules that incorporate into the bilayer together with gangliosides. In the presence of micelles the mean lifetime and the amplitude of the gramicidin single channel did not present relevant modifications when dioleoylphosphatidylcholine or phosphatidylserine were used to form the bilayer. Calcium proved to trigger the interaction between phosphatidylethanolamine membranes and GM1 micelles containing gramicidin. In this case the ionic pore presents a longer lifetime and a lower amplitude with respect to pure gramicidin. We suggest that different properties developed by gramicidin may depend on structural organization of gangliosides when incorporated into the phospholipid bilayer.

A 1H-NMR investigation of the effects of ethanol and general anaesthetics on ion channels and membrane fusion using unilamellar phospholipid membranes

Using 1H-NMR of small unilamellar vesicles in the presence of the lanthanide probe ion Pr3+, the effects of ethanol, diethyl ether and chloroform on various mechanisms of channel-mediated transport were studied. The mechanisms include channel formation by the polypeptide Alamethicin 30 and vesicular lysis at the gel to liquid-crystal phase transition of the lipid. Channel stabilisation and membrane fusion induced by sub-critical micelle concentrations of Triton X-100 were also investigated. The observation that ethanol and diethyl ether increase membrane permeability and fusion while chloroform inhibits them suggests a common locus of action on the properties and structure of channel-associated water. This conclusion is discussed in terms of current theories of general anaesthesia.

Tensions and free energies of formation of "solventless" lipid bilayers. Measurement of high contact angles

A method is described for the accurate measurement of the interfacial tension of lipid bilayer membranes containing little or no solvent. The tensions were obtained from the interfacial tensions of the equilibrium film-forming solution in the Plateau-Gibbs border, measured by conventional techniques, and the contact angle between the border and the bilayer. The contact angles in these systems are large (greater than 10 degrees) and were estimated by a new method that involved the injection of small known volumes of lipid solution into the bilayer so as to form a lens. Results have been obtained for monoolein-triolein, monoolein-squalene, and monoolein-squalene-decane systems. Half bilayer tensions in these systems were up to approximately 1 mN m-1 less than the single interface tensions. Although bilayer tension tended to increase with bilayer thickness, the interdependence of these quantities varied with the alkane solvents present. In the monoolein-squalene-decane systems, small concentrations of decane have a larger effect on tension than on thickness. Free energies of formation of the near-solventless bilayers were much greater than estimated from the simple application of Lifshitz theory.