Taking another look with fluorescence microscopy: Image processing techniques in Langmuir monolayers for the twenty-first century

Advantages of the classical thermodynamic analysis of single-and multi-component Langmuir monolayers from molecules of biomedical importance-theory and applications

The Langmuir monolayer technique has been successfully used for decades to model biological membranes and processes occurring at their interfaces. Classically, this method involves surface pressure measurements to study interactions within membrane components as well as between external bioactive molecules (e.g. drugs) and the membrane. In recent years, surface-sensitive techniques were developed to investigate monolayers in situ; however, the obtained results are in many cases insufficient for a full characterization of biomolecule-membrane interactions. As result, description of systems using parameters such as mixing or excess thermodynamic functions is still relevant, valuable and irreplaceable in biophysical research. This review article summarizes the theory of thermodynamics of single- and multi-component Langmuir monolayers. In addition, recent applications of this approach to characterize surface behaviour and interactions (e.g. orientation of bipolar molecules, drug-membrane affinity, lateral membrane heterogeneity) are presented.

Reorganization of the outer layer of a model of the plasma membrane induced by a neuroprotective aminosterol

Trodusquemine is an amphipathic aminosterol that has recently shown therapeutic benefit in neurodegenerative diseases altering the binding of misfolded proteins to the cell membrane. To unravel the underlying mechanism, we studied the interactions between Trodusquemine (TRO) and lipid monolayers simulating the outer layer of the plasma membrane. We selected two different compositions of dioleoylphosphatidylcholine (DOPC), sphingomyelin (SM), cholesterol (Chol) and monosialotetrahexosylganglioside (GM1) lipid mixture mimicking either a lipid-raft containing membrane (L_d+S_o phases) or a single-phase disordered membrane (L_d phase). Surface pressure-area isotherms and surface compressional modulus-area combined with Brewster Angle Microscopy (BAM) provided the thermodynamic and morphological information on the lipid monolayer in the presence of increasing amounts of TRO in the monolayer. Experiments revealed that TRO forms stable spreading monolayers at the buffer-air interface where it undergoes multiple reversible phase transitions to bi- and tri-layers at the interface. When TRO was spread at the interface with the lipid mixtures, we found that it distributes in the lipid monolayer for both the selected lipid compositions, but a maximum TRO uptake in the rafts-containing monolayer was observed for a Lipid/TRO molar ratio equal to 3:2. Statistical analysis of BAM images revealed that TRO induces a decrease in the size of the condensed domains, an increase in their number and in the thickness mismatch between the L_d and S_o phase. Experiments and MD simulations converge to indicate that TRO adsorbs preferentially at the border of the S_o domains. Removal of GM1 from the lipid L_d+S_o mixture resulted in an even greater TRO-mediated reduction of the size of the S_o domains suggesting that the presence of GM1 hinders the localization of TRO at the S_o domains boundaries. Taken together these observations suggest that Trodusquemine influences the organization of lipid rafts within the neuronal membrane in a dose-dependent manner whereas it evenly distributes in disordered expanded phases of the membrane model.

Measurement of the Persistence Length of Cytoskeletal Filaments using Curvature Distributions

Cytoskeletal filaments such as microtubules and actin filaments play important roles in the mechanical integrity of cells and the ability of cells to respond to their environment. Measuring the mechanical properties of cytoskeletal structures is crucial for gaining insight into intracellular mechanical stresses and their role in regulating cellular processes. One of the ways to characterize these mechanical properties is by measuring their persistence length, the average length over which filaments stay straight. There are several approaches in the literature for measuring filament deformations, such as Fourier analysis of images obtained using fluorescence microscopy. Here, we show how curvature distributions can be used as an alternative tool to quantify bio-filament deformations, and investigate how the apparent stiffness of filaments depends on the resolution and noise of the imaging system. We present analytical calculations of the scaling curvature distributions as a function of filament discretization, and test our predictions by comparing Monte Carlo simulations to results from existing techniques. We also apply our approach to microtubules and actin filaments obtained from in vitro gliding assay experiments with high densities of non-functional motors, and calculate the persistence length of these filaments. The presented curvature analysis is significantly more accurate compared to existing approaches for small data sets, and can be readily applied to both in vitro or in vivo filament data through the use of the open-source codes we provide.

The Past and the Future of Langmuir and Langmuir-Blodgett Films

The Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technique, through which monolayers are transferred from the air/water interface onto a solid substrate, was the first method to allow for the controlled assembly of organic molecules. With its almost 100 year history, it has been the inspiration for most methods to functionalize surfaces and produce nanocoatings, in addition to serving to explore concepts in molecular electronics and nanoarchitectonics. This paper provides an overview of the history of Langmuir monolayers and LB films, including the potential use in devices and a discussion on why LB films are seldom considered for practical applications today. Emphasis is then given to two areas where these films offer unique opportunities, namely, in mimicking cell membrane models and exploiting nanoarchitectonics concepts to produce sensors, investigate molecular recognitions, and assemble molecular machines. The most promising topics for the short- and long-term prospects of the LB technique are also highlighted.

Electrical Properties of Membrane Phospholipids in Langmuir Monolayers

Experimental surface pressure (π) and electric surface potential (ΔV) isotherms were measured for membrane lipids, including the following phosphatidylcholines (PCs)-1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPPC); 1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DSPC); 1,2-diarachidoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DAPC); and 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DOPC). In addition, other phospholipids, such as phosphatidylethanolamines (represented by 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine (DPPE)) and sphingolipids (represented by N-(hexadecanoyl)-sphing-4-enine-1-phosphocholine (SM)) were also studied. The experimental apparent dipole moments (μAexp) of the abovementioned lipids were determined using the Helmholtz equation. The particular contributions to the apparent dipole moments of the investigated molecules connected with their polar (μ⟂p) and apolar parts (μ⟂a) were theoretically calculated for geometrically optimized systems. Using a three-layer capacitor model, introducing the group's apparent dipole moments (calculated herein) and adopting values from other papers to account for the reorientation of water molecules (μ⟂w/εw), as well as the for the local dielectric permittivity in the vicinity of the polar (εp) and apolar (εa) groups, the apparent dipole moments of the investigated molecules were calculated (μAcalc). Since the comparison of the two values (experimental and calculated) resulted in large discrepancies, we developed a new methodology that correlates the results from density functional theory (DFT) molecular modeling with experimentally determined values using multiple linear regression. From the fitted model, the following contributions to the apparent dipole moments were determined: μ⟂w/εw=-1.8±1.4 D; εp=10.2±7.0 and εa=0.95±0.52). Local dielectric permittivity in the vicinity of apolar groups (εa) is much lower compared to that in the vicinity of polar moieties (εp), which is in line with the tendency observed by other authors studying simple molecules with small polar groups. A much higher value for the contributions from the reorientation of water molecules (μ⟂w/εw) has been interpreted as resulting from bulky and strongly hydrated polar groups of phospholipids.

Interaction of different lipoprotein types with cholesterol at the air/water interface

Cholesterol (Chol) interacts with lipoproteins, in order to be transported through the aqueous bloodstream. High density lipoproteins (HDL) and low density lipoproteins (LDL) transport cholesterol differently, a result that may be due to a difference in their interactions with cholesterol. Here, we investigated how the lipoprotein type affects the interaction with cholesterol by using a Langmuir trough and fluorescence microscope. We studied pure monolayers of 1) Chol, 2) LDL, and 3) HDL, and mixed monolayers of 1) Chol-LDL, and 2) Chol-HDL at air/water interfaces. Images of the Chol-LDL mixed monolayer showed many small sterol domains distributed in the non-sterol molecules (e.g. phospholids, proteins and lipids) of LDL. The sterol domains that were seen in the Chol-HDL mixed monolayer were larger in size but smaller in number than those seen in the Chol-LDL mixed monolayers. These images and the excess area, excess free energy, and free energy of mixing values obtained from the thermodynamic analysis of the surface pressure-area per molecule isotherms suggested that the cholesterol phase separated more from HDL than from LDL. Cholesterol was therefore concluded to interact with LDL better than with HDL. This more favorable interaction was explained by the presence of hydrophobic interactions between cholesterol and Apo-B, the major apoprotein of LDL.

Comparison of Line Tension Measurement Methods for Lipid Monolayers at Liquid-Liquid Coexistence

Several methods of measuring the line tension between phase-separated liquid-ordered-liquid -disordered domains in phospholipid-cholesterol systems have been proposed. These experimental techniques are typically internally self-consistent, but the measured line tension values vary widely among these techniques. To date, no measurement of line tension has utilized multiple experimental techniques to look at the same monolayer system. Here we compare two nonperturbative methods, Fourier analysis of boundary fluctuations (BA) and one proposed by Israelachvili involving the analysis of domain size distributions (SD), to extract the line tension in a 70 mol % DMPC/30 mol % dihydrocholesterol (DChol) mixture as a function of surface pressure. We show that BA predicts the expected variation in line tension measurements consistent with the theoretical critical exponent whereas SD does not. From this comparison, we conclude that the size distribution of monolayer domains is metastable and primarily determined by the kinetics of domain nucleation and subsequent aging.

3D Molecular ToF-SIMS Imaging of Artificial Lipid Membranes Using a Discriminant Analysis-Based Algorithm

Artificial lipid membranes play a growing role in technical applications such as biosensors in pharmacological research and as model systems in the investigation of biological lipid films. In the standard procedure for displaying the distribution of membrane components, fluorescence microscopy, the fluorophores used can influence the distribution of the components and usually not all substances can be displayed at the same time. The discriminant analysis-based algorithm used in combination with scanning time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) enables marker-free, quantitative, simultaneous recording of all membrane components. These data are used for reconstruction of distribution patterns. In the model system used for this survey, a tear fluid lipid layer, the distribution patterns of all lipids correlate well in calculated ToF-SIMS images and epi-fluorescence microscopic images. All epi-fluorescence microscopically viewable structures are visible when using both positive and negative secondary ions and can be reproduced with high lateral resolution in the submicrometer range despite the very low signal intensity and a very low signal-to-noise ratio. In addition, three-dimensional images can be obtained with a subnanometer depth resolution. Furthermore, structures and the distribution of substances that cannot be made visible by epi-fluorescence microscopy can be displayed. This enables new insights that cannot be gained by epi-fluorescence microscopy alone.

How to gather useful and valuable information from protein binding measurements using Langmuir lipid monolayers

This review presents data on the influence of various experimental parameters on the binding of proteins onto Langmuir lipid monolayers. The users of the Langmuir methodology are often unaware of the importance of choosing appropriate experimental conditions to validate the data acquired with this method. The protein Retinitis pigmentosa 2 (RP2) has been used throughout this review to illustrate the influence of these experimental parameters on the data gathered with Langmuir monolayers. The methods detailed in this review include the determination of protein binding parameters from the measurement of adsorption isotherms, infrared spectra of the protein in solution and in monolayers, ellipsometric isotherms and fluorescence micrographs.

Biophysical methods for the characterization of PTEN/lipid bilayer interactions

PTEN, a tumor suppressor protein that dephosphorylates phosphoinositides at the 3-position of the inositol ring, is a cytosolic protein that needs to associate with the plasma membrane or other subcellular membranes to exert its lipid phosphatase function. Upon membrane association PTEN interacts with at least three different lipid entities: An anionic lipid that is present in sufficiently high concentration to create a negative potential that allows PTEN to interact electrostatically with the membrane, phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate, which interacts with PTEN's N-terminal end and the substrate, usually phosphatidylinositol-3,4,5-trisphosphate. Many parameters influence PTEN's interaction with the lipid bilayer, for example, the lateral organization of the lipids or the presence of other chemical species like cholesterol or other lipids. To investigate systematically the different steps of PTEN's complex binding mechanism and to explore its dynamic behavior in the membrane bound state, in vitro methods need to be employed that allow for a systematic variation of the experimental conditions. In this review we survey a variety of methods that can be used to assess PTEN lipid binding affinity, the dynamics of its membrane association as well as its dynamic behavior in the membrane bound state.

Evaluation of physical integrity of lipid bilayer under oxidative stress: application of fluorescence microscopy and digital image processing

Membrane damage as a result of oxidative stress is quantified using digital image heterogeneity analysis of single giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) composed of soy phosphatidylcholine (PC), which were found to undergo budding when containing chlorophyll a (Chla) as photosensitizer in the lipid bilayer. Based on digital image heterogeneity analysis, a dimensionless scalar parameter "entropy" for the budding process was found to change linearly during an initial budding stage. Photo-induced peroxidation of PC to form linoleoyl hydroperoxides, further leading to domains of higher polarities in GUVs, was suggested to initiate the budding process. The effect on budding process of GUVs was suggested for use in assays for evaluation of potential protectors of lipid bilayer integrity under oxidative stress, and "entropy" seemed to be a valid descriptor of such membranal integrity. The one-step procedure for quantification of prooxidative effects and antioxidative protection provided by drug candidates and potential food ingredients in membranes could be easily automated for direct measurement of oxidative and antioxidative effects on cellular integrity.

Nutritional aspects of β-carotene and resveratrol antioxidant synergism in giant unilamellar vesicles

Giant unilamellar vesicles of soy phosphatidylcholine are found to undergo budding when sensitized with chlorophyll a ([phosphatidylcholine] : [chlorophyll a] = 1500 : 1) under light irradiation (400-440 nm, 16 mW mm(-2)). 'Entropy' as a dimensionless image heterogeneity measurement is found to increase linearly with time during an initial budding process. For β-carotene addition ([phosphatidylcholine] : [β-carotene] = 500 : 1), a lag phase of 23 s is observed, followed by a budding process at an initial rate lowered by a factor of 3.8, whereas resveratrol ([phosphatidylcholine] : [resveratrol] = 500 : 1) has little if any protective effect against budding. However, resveratrol, when combined with β-carotene, is found to further reduce the initial budding rate by a total factor of 4.7, exhibiting synergistic antioxidation effects. It is also interesting that β-carotene alone determines the lag phase for the initiation of budding, while resveratrol supports β-carotene in reducing the rate of the budding process following the lag phase; however, it alone has no observable effect on the lag phase. Resveratrol is suggested to regenerate β-carotene following its sacrificial protection of unsaturated lipids from oxidative stress, modeling the synergistic effects in cell membranes by combinations of dietary antioxidants.

Determination and comparison of how the chain number and chain length of a lipid affects its interactions with a phospholipid at an air/water interface

We determined how the number of chains in a lipid and its chain length affects its interactions with a phospholipid model membrane, and whether the number of chains or the chain length of lipids affects their interactions with the phospholipids more. This was achieved by using a Langmuir trough and a fluorescence microscope to study the interactions of mono-, di-, and triglycerides with a phospholipid monolayer at an air/water interface. The effect of the number of chains in a lipid on its interactions with phospholipids at air/water interfaces was shown by surface pressure-area per molecule isotherms and their thermodynamic analysis to worsen as the number of alkyl chains was increased to be greater than one. An increase in the packing density decreased the mixing ability of the lipids with the phospholipids, resulting in the formation of aggregates in the mixed monolayer. The aggregation was explained by the intermolecular hydrophobic and van der Waals attractions between the lipid molecules. Fluorescence microscopy revealed partial mixing without aggregation for monoglycerides, but the presence of lipid aggregation for diglycerides and triglycerides. The effect of decreasing the chain length of triglycerides from a long chain to a medium chain caused the interactions of the lipids with the phospholipid molecules at the air/water interface to significantly improve. Decreasing the chain length of monoglycerides from a long chain to a medium chain worsened their interaction with the phospholipid molecules. The effect of decreasing the triglyceride chain length on their interactions with phospholipids was much greater than the effect of decreasing the number of alkyl chains in the lipid.

Comparison between the behavior of different hydrophobic peptides allowing membrane anchoring of proteins

Membrane binding of proteins such as short chain dehydrogenase reductases or tail-anchored proteins relies on their N- and/or C-terminal hydrophobic transmembrane segment. In this review, we propose guidelines to characterize such hydrophobic peptide segments using spectroscopic and biophysical measurements. The secondary structure content of the C-terminal peptides of retinol dehydrogenase 8, RGS9-1 anchor protein, lecithin retinol acyl transferase, and of the N-terminal peptide of retinol dehydrogenase 11 has been deduced by prediction tools from their primary sequence as well as by using infrared or circular dichroism analyses. Depending on the solvent and the solubilization method, significant structural differences were observed, often involving α-helices. The helical structure of these peptides was found to be consistent with their presumed membrane binding. Langmuir monolayers have been used as membrane models to study lipid-peptide interactions. The values of maximum insertion pressure obtained for all peptides using a monolayer of 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phospho-ethanolamine (DOPE) are larger than the estimated lateral pressure of membranes, thus suggesting that they bind membranes. Polarization modulation infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy has been used to determine the structure and orientation of these peptides in the absence and in the presence of a DOPE monolayer. This lipid induced an increase or a decrease in the organization of the peptide secondary structure. Further measurements are necessary using other lipids to better understand the membrane interactions of these peptides.

Nanoscale packing differences in sphingomyelin and phosphatidylcholine revealed by BODIPY fluorescence in monolayers: physiological implications

Phosphatidycholines (PC) with two saturated acyl chains (e.g., dipalmitoyl) mimic natural sphingomyelin (SM) by promoting raft formation in model membranes. However, sphingoid-based lipids, such as SM, rather than saturated-chain PCs have been implicated as key components of lipid rafts in biomembranes. These observations raise questions about the physical packing properties of the phase states that can be formed by these two major plasma membrane lipids with identical phosphocholine headgroups. To investigate, we developed a monolayer platform capable of monitoring changes in surface fluorescence by acquiring multiple spectra during measurement of a lipid force-area isotherm. We relied on the concentration-dependent emission changes of 4,4-difluoro-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene (BODIPY)-labeled PC to detect nanoscale alterations in lipid packing and phase state induced by monolayer lateral compression. The BODIPY-PC probe contained an indacene ring with four symmetrically located methyl (Me) substituents to enhance localization to the lipid hydrocarbon region. Surface fluorescence spectra indicated changes in miscibility even when force-area isotherms showed no deviation from ideal mixing behavior in the surface pressure versus cross-sectional molecular area response. We detected slightly better mixing of Me4-BODIPY-8-PC with the fluid-like, liquid expanded phase of 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-PC compared to N-oleoyl-SM. Remarkably, in the gel-like, liquid condensed phase, Me4-BODIPY-8-PC mixed better with N-palmitoyl-SM than dipalmitoyl-PC, suggesting naturally abundant SMs with saturated acyl chains form gel-like lipid phase(s) with enhanced ability to accommodate deeply embedded components compared to dipalmitoyl-PC gel phase. The findings reveal a fundamental difference in the lateral packing properties of SM and PC that occurs even when their acyl chains match.

Antioxidants and physical integrity of lipid bilayers under oxidative stress

Giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs of diameter 5-25 μm) of soy phosphatidylcholine (PC), resistant to intense light exposure (400-440 nm, ~15 mW·mm(-2)), underwent budding when containing chlorophyll a (Chla) in the lipid bilayer ([PC]:[Chla] = 1500:1). On the basis of image heterogeneity analysis using inverted microscopy, a dimensionless entropy parameter for the budding process was shown to increase linearly during an initial budding process. Lipophilic β-carotene (β-Car, [PC]:[β-Car] = 500:1) reduced the initial budding rate by a factor of 2.4, while the hydrophilic glycoside rutin ([PC]:[rutin] = 500:1) had no effect. Chla photosensitized oxidation of PC to form linoleoyl hydroperoxides, further leading to domains of higher polarity in the vesicles, is suggested to trigger budding. The average dipole moment (μ) of linoleic acid hydroperoxides was calculated using density functional theory (DFT) to have the value of 2.84 D, while unoxidized linoleic acid has μ = 1.86 D. β-Carotene as a lipophilic antioxidant and singlet-oxygen quencher seems to hamper oxidation in the lipid bilayers and delay budding in contrast to rutin located in the aqueous phase. The effect on budding of GUVs as a detrimental process for membranes is suggested for use in assays for evaluation of potential protectors of cellular integrity and functions under oxidative stress.