Extensive electroporation abolishes experimentally induced shape transformations of erythrocytes: a consequence of phospholipid symmetrization?

Effects of Passive Phospholipid Flip-Flop and Asymmetric External Fields on Bilayer Phase Equilibria

Compositional asymmetry between the leaflets of bilayer membranes modifies their phase behavior and is thought to influence other important features such as mechanical properties and protein activity. We address here how phase behavior is affected by passive phospholipid flip-flop, such that the compositional asymmetry is not fixed. We predict transitions from "pre-flip-flop" behavior to a restricted set of phase equilibria that can persist in the presence of passive flip-flop. Surprisingly, such states are not necessarily symmetric. We further account for external symmetry breaking, such as a preferential substrate interaction, and show how this can stabilize strongly asymmetric equilibrium states. Our theory explains several experimental observations of flip-flop-mediated changes in phase behavior and shows how domain formation and compositional asymmetry can be controlled in concert, by manipulating passive flip-flop rates and applying external fields.

Intracellular Delivery by Membrane Disruption: Mechanisms, Strategies, and Concepts

Intracellular delivery is a key step in biological research and has enabled decades of biomedical discoveries. It is also becoming increasingly important in industrial and medical applications ranging from biomanufacture to cell-based therapies. Here, we review techniques for membrane disruption-based intracellular delivery from 1911 until the present. These methods achieve rapid, direct, and universal delivery of almost any cargo molecule or material that can be dispersed in solution. We start by covering the motivations for intracellular delivery and the challenges associated with the different cargo types-small molecules, proteins/peptides, nucleic acids, synthetic nanomaterials, and large cargo. The review then presents a broad comparison of delivery strategies followed by an analysis of membrane disruption mechanisms and the biology of the cell response. We cover mechanical, electrical, thermal, optical, and chemical strategies of membrane disruption with a particular emphasis on their applications and challenges to implementation. Throughout, we highlight specific mechanisms of membrane disruption and suggest areas in need of further experimentation. We hope the concepts discussed in our review inspire scientists and engineers with further ideas to improve intracellular delivery.

Short-Term Effects of Chlorpromazine on Oxidative Stress in Erythrocyte Functionality: Activation of Metabolism and Membrane Perturbation

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the short-term effects of chlorpromazine on erythrocytes because it is reported that the drug, unstable in plasma but more stable in erythrocytes, interacts with erythrocyte membranes, membrane lipids, and hemoglobin. There is a rich literature about the side and therapeutic effects or complications due to chlorpromazine, but most of these studies explore the influence of long-term treatment. We think that evaluating the short-term effects of the drug may help to clarify the sequence of chlorpromazine molecular targets from which some long-term effects derive. Our results indicate that although the drug is primarily intercalated in the innermost side of the membrane, it does not influence band 3 anionic flux, lipid peroxidation, and protein carbonylation processes. On the other hand, it destabilizes and increases the autooxidation of haemoglobin, induces activation of caspase 3, and, markedly, influences the ATP and reduced glutathione levels, with subsequent exposure of phosphatidylserine at the erythrocyte surface. Overall our observations on the early stage of chlorpromazine influence on erythrocytes may contribute to better understanding of new and interesting characteristics of this compound improving knowledge of erythrocyte metabolism.

A hypothesis of target cell formation in sickle cell disease

A fraction of erythrocytes appear as target cells in stained blood smears in sickle cell disease, due to a inheritance of the hemoglobin variant Hb S, polymerizing upon deoxygenation. These cells appear in a three dimension as thin cups. A process of their formation in this disease is proposed based on a band 3-based mechanism of the erythrocyte shape control, able to explain the erythrocyte echinocytosis by glucose depletion. It indicates that their formation is due to a stomatocytogenic slow outward transport of the dibasic form of endogenous Pi with an H(+) by band 3, promoted by the decrease of the Donnan ratio, which decreases cell pH and volume, attributed by a decrease of cell KCl concentration by the higher efflux of K(+)Cl(-) cotransport and Ca(2+) activation of the Gardos channel. Its implications are briefly discussed with respect to target cells per se, target cell formation in other hemoglobinopathies, acquired and inherited disorders of the lipid metabolism and dehydrated hereditary stomatocytosis as well as a stomatocyte presence in a double heterozygote of Hb S and Hb C and of an involvement of the process of target cell formation in acanthocytosis in acquired and inherited disorders.

Numerical study of lipid translocation driven by nanoporation due to multiple high-intensity, ultrashort electrical pulses

The dynamical translocation of lipids from one leaflet to another due to membrane permeabilization driven by nanosecond, high-intensity (>100kV/cm) electrical pulses has been probed. Our simulations show that lipid molecules can translocate by diffusion through water-filled nanopores which form following high voltage application. Our focus is on multiple pulsing, and such simulations are relevant to gauge the time duration over which nanopores might remain open, and facilitate continued lipid translocations and membrane transport. Our results are indicative of a N(½) scaling with pulse number for the pore radius. These results bode well for the use of pulse trains in biomedical applications, not only due to cumulative behaviors and in reducing electric intensities and pulsing hardware, but also due to the possibility of long-lived thermo-electric physics near the membrane, and the possibility for pore coalescence.

Nanoparticle permeation induces water penetration, ion transport, and lipid flip-flop

Nanoparticles are generally considered excellent candidates for targeted drug delivery. However, ion leakage and cytotoxicity induced by nanoparticle permeation is a potential problem in such drug delivery schemes because of the toxic effect of many ions. In this study, we have carried out a series of coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the water penetration, ion transport, and lipid molecule flip-flop in a protein-free phospholipid bilayer membrane during nanoparticle permeation. The effect of ion concentration gradient, pressure differential across the membrane, nanoparticle size, and permeation velocity have been examined in this work. Some conclusions from our studies include (1) The number of water molecules in the interior of the membrane during the nanoparticle permeation increases with the nanoparticle size and the pressure differential across the membrane but is unaffected by the nanoparticle permeation velocity or the ion concentration gradient. (2) Ion transport is sensitive to the size of nanoparticle as well as the ion concentration gradient between two sides of the membrane; no anion/cation selectivity is observed for small nanoparticle permeation, while anions are preferentially translocated through the membrane when the size of nanoparticle is large enough. (3) Incidences of lipid molecule flip-flop increases with the size of nanoparticle and ion concentration gradient and decreases with the pressure differential and the nanoparticle permeation velocity.

The location of organotins within the erythrocyte membrane in relation to their toxicity

The aim of the present study on organotin compounds, which are toxic to biological systems, was to determine the relationship between the compounds' toxicity and their location in the lipid bilayer of the biological membrane. It was assumed that the degree of disturbance caused within the lipid bilayer of the membrane, which in turn depends on the depth of incorporation, was an appropriate measure of toxicity. Previous results from our studies on the effect of organotin chlorides on membranes, made by using infrared radiation and hemolysis of erythrocytes, indicated that tributyltin (TBT) is the most active in terms of its interaction with the erythrocyte membrane. This compound causes the most severe hemolysis of erythrocytes and dehydration of membrane constituents. In order to connect the changes induced within the membrane structure with the compounds' location, we have investigated erythrocyte shape changes using both microscopic and fluorimetric methods. The microscopic results show that organotin compounds accumulate in the outer monolayer of the membrane. The fluorimetric studies indicate that all the compounds are present in the hydrophilic part of the outer lipid monolayer, and change the order parameter of the layer. However, only tributyltin, by being incorporated into the hydrophobic region of the monolayer, changes the fluidity in the alkyl chain region of the erythrocyte membrane. Furthermore, only TBT is present in both the hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions, as evidenced by the changed order parameter of the polar groups and fluorescence anisotropy of DPH probe in the hydrophobic region, these being connected with its high toxicity.

Curvature factor and membrane solubilization, with particular reference to membrane rafts

The composition of membrane rafts (cholesterol/sphingolipid-rich domains) cannot be fully deduced from the analysis of a detergent-resistant membrane fraction after solubilization in Triton X-100 at 4°C. It is hypothesized that the membrane curvature-dependent lateral distribution of membrane components affects their solubilization. The stomatocytogenic, Triton X-100, cannot effectively solubilize membrane components, especially with regard to the outward membrane curvature.

A lipocentric view of peptide-induced pores

Although lipid membranes serve as effective sealing barriers for the passage of most polar solutes, nonmediated leakage is not completely improbable. A high activation energy normally keeps unassisted bilayer permeation at a very low frequency, but lipids are able to self-organize as pores even in peptide-free and protein-free membranes. The probability of leakage phenomena increases under conditions such as phase coexistence, external stress or perturbation associated to binding of nonlipidic molecules. Here, we argue that pore formation can be viewed as an intrinsic property of lipid bilayers, with strong similarities in the structure and mechanism between pores formed with participation of peptides, lipidic pores induced by different types of stress, and spontaneous transient bilayer defects driven by thermal fluctuations. Within such a lipocentric framework, amphipathic peptides are best described as pore-inducing rather than pore-forming elements. Active peptides bound to membranes can be understood as a source of internal surface tension which facilitates pore formation by diminishing the high activation energy barrier. This first or immediate action of the peptide has some resemblance to catalysis. However, the presence of membrane-active peptides has the additional effect of displacing the equilibrium towards the pore-open state, which is then maintained over long times, and reducing the size of initial individual pores. Thus, pore-inducing peptides, regardless of their sequence and oligomeric organization, can be assigned a double role of increasing the probability of pore formation in membranes to high levels as well as stabilizing these pores after they appear.

Effects of the antimalarial drug primaquine on the dynamic structure of lipid model membranes

Primaquine (PQ) is a potent therapeutic agent used in the treatment of malaria and its mechanism of action still lacks a more detailed understanding at a molecular level. In this context, we used differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), pressure perturbation calorimetry (PPC), and electron spin resonance (ESR) to investigate the effects of PQ on the lipid phase transition, acyl chain dynamics, and on volumetric properties of lipid model membranes. DSC thermograms revealed that PQ stabilizes the fluid phase of the lipid model membranes and interacts mainly with the lipid headgroups. This result was revealed by the great effect on the pretransition of phosphatidylcholines and the destabilization of the inverted hexagonal phase of a phosphatidylethanolamine bilayer. Spin probes located at different positions along the lipid chain were used to monitor different membrane regions. ESR results indicated that PQ is effective in changing the acyl chain ordering and dynamics of the whole chain of dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC) phospholipid in the rippled gel phase. The combined ESR and PPC results revealed that the slight DMPC volume changes at the main phase transition induced by the presence of PQ is probably due to a less dense lipid gel phase. At physiological pH, the cationic amphiphilic PQ strongly interacts with the lipid headgroup region of the bilayers, causing considerable disorganization in the hydrophobic core. These results shed light on the molecular mechanism of primaquine-lipid interaction, which may be useful in the understanding of the complex mechanism of action and/or the adverse effects of this antimalarial drug.

Comparison of red blood cell membrane microstructure after different physicochemical influences: atomic force microscope research

PURPOSE

After the influence of different actions on the blood, the erythrocytes may change their macrostructure. At the same time, the microstructure of cell membrane will be changed as well. This study provides the results of comparison of red blood cell membrane microstructure after they have been affected by different factors.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Images and spatial profiles of the cell surface were obtained by atomic force microscope. It was proposed to use spatial Fourier transform to decompose the initial complex profile into series of simple ones. This made it possible to compare surface parameters after exposure of red blood cells to different external actions.

RESULTS

Quantitative differences between membrane profile harmonic composition parameters (amplitude and spatial period) after physical impact (impulse electrical field, osmotic swelling) and after chemical impact (the fixing fluid glutaraldehyde and the drug Esmeron) were experimentally confirmed.

CONCLUSIONS

Such experimental and theoretical approach may lay down the foundations of mechanisms of different factors' effect on red blood cells both in research and in clinics.

Interactions of surfactants with lipid membranes

Surfactants are surface-active, amphiphilic compounds that are water-soluble in the micro- to millimolar range, and self-assemble to form micelles or other aggregates above a critical concentration. This definition comprises synthetic detergents as well as amphiphilic peptides and lipopeptides, bile salts and many other compounds. This paper reviews the biophysics of the interactions of surfactants with membranes of insoluble, naturally occurring lipids. It discusses structural, thermodynamic and kinetic aspects of membrane-water partitioning, changes in membrane properties induced by surfactants, membrane solubilisation to micelles and other phases formed by lipid-surfactant systems. Each section defines and derives key parameters, mentions experimental methods for their measurement and compiles and discusses published data. Additionally, a brief overview is given of surfactant-like effects in biological systems, technical applications of surfactants that involve membrane interactions, and surfactant-based protocols to study biological membranes.

Analysis of the electric field induced forces in erythrocyte membrane pores using a realistic cell model

We calculate the induced electric stress forces on transient hydrophobic pores in the membrane of an erythrocyte exposed to an electric field. For this purpose, we use a finite element numerical technique and a realistic shape for the biconcave erythrocyte represented by a set of parametric equations in terms of Jacobi elliptic functions. The results clearly show that the electrical forces on the base and sidewalls of the pore favour the opening of the pore. A comparison of the force densities obtained for an unstretched flat membrane and for the realistic erythrocyte model shows that the thinning and curvature of the membrane cannot be neglected. We also show that the pore deformation depends strongly on the orientation of the pore with respect to the external field, and in particular is very small when the field is tangent to the membrane surface.

A hypothesis of the disc-sphere transformation of the erythrocytes between glass surfaces and of related observations

Erythrocytes suspended at a low hematocrit in a non-buffered isotonic saline change from biconcave discs to spheres between glass surfaces of a slide and of a coverslip with the echinocyte as an intermediate. A pH increase is a major factor responsible for this disc-sphere transformation or glass effect. It is also observed between surfaces made of various polymers and of mica provided that the distance between them is controlled (0.1 mm). The glass effect is antagonized by serum, plasma, serum albumin, ammonium salts and CO2. It is not observed above a 1-2% hematocrit, but is enhanced by gamma-globulins. The sites of reappearance of the spicules are the same and the order of their disappearance is the inverse of the order of their reappearance during the repetitive cycle of the disc-sphere transformation and reversal when a small glass rod is alternatively approached near a site on the erythrocyte surface and withdrawn. A mechanism of erythrocyte shape control has been previously hypothesized in which Band 3 (AE1), the anion exchange protein, plays a central role. Specifically, decrease and increase of the ratio of its outward-facing conformation (Band 3o) and inward-facing conformation (Band 3i) contract and relax the membrane skeleton, promoting the echinocytosis and stomatocytosis, respectively. The Band 3o/Band 3i equilibrium ratio is determined by the Donnan equilibrium ratio of Cl-, HCO3- and H+ (r=Cl(i)-/Cl(o)-=HCO3i-/HCO3o-=Ho+/Hi+), increasing with it. The mechanism could explain by a change of the Donnan ratio the above observations with the assumptions that polymers are permeable to CO2 and that an unstirred layer slows the propagation of the change occurring at the site of approach of the glass rod to peripheral sites. The presence of HCO3- in serum or plasma may be the basis for the absence of the glass effect in these fluids.

Endovesicle formation and membrane perturbation induced by polyoxyethyleneglycolalkylethers in human erythrocytes

Polyoxyethyleneglycolalkylether (CmEn, m=12, n=8) can induce a large torocyte-like endovesicle in human erythrocytes. The present study aimed to examine how variations in the molecular structure of CmEn (m=10,12,14,16,18; n=1-10,23) affect the occurrence of torocyte endovesicles. Our results show that torocytes occur most frequently when m=12,14 and n=8,9. At this molecular configuration the detergents induce inward membrane bending (stomatocytic S1-S2 shapes) resulting in the formation of a large membrane invagination. These detergents have a strong membrane perturbing, i.e., haemolytic, effect. Theoretical calculations indicate that a torocyte-shaped inside-out membrane vesicle can be created from a large membrane invagination due to the impact of laterally mobile anisotropic membrane inclusions. Such inclusions may be detergent-membrane component complexes or unanchored integral membrane proteins. It is shown that a nonhomogeneous lateral distribution of anisotropic membrane inclusions may stabilise the torocyte endovesicle shape, characterised by having opposite membranes in the thin central region of the vesicles separated by a certain distance. Tubular, conical or inverted conical isotropic inclusions cannot do so.

Chemical control of phospholipid distribution across bilayer membranes

Most biological membranes possess an asymmetric transbilayer distribution of phospholipids. Endogenous enzymes expend energy to maintain the arrangement by promoting the rate of phospholipid translocation, or flip-flop. Researchers have discovered ways to modify this distribution through the use of chemicals. This review presents a critical analysis of the phospholipid asymmetry data in the literature followed by a brief overview of the maintenance and physiological consequences of phospholipid asymmetry, and finishes with a list of chemical ways to alter phospholipid distribution by enhancement of flip-flop.

Echinocyte shapes: bending, stretching, and shear determine spicule shape and spacing

We study the shapes of human red blood cells using continuum mechanics. In particular, we model the crenated, echinocytic shapes and show how they may arise from a competition between the bending energy of the plasma membrane and the stretching/shear elastic energies of the membrane skeleton. In contrast to earlier work, we calculate spicule shapes exactly by solving the equations of continuum mechanics subject to appropriate boundary conditions. A simple scaling analysis of this competition reveals an elastic length Lambda(el), which sets the length scale for the spicules and is, thus, related to the number of spicules experimentally observed on the fully developed echinocyte.

Membrane stress and permeabilization induced by asymmetric incorporation of compounds

The area balance or imbalance between the inner and outer monolayer of biological membranes is a key parameter for driving shape changes (including exo and endocytosis) and controlling the bilayer curvature stress. The asymmetric incorporation of a drug or biological agent interferes with these processes, and the subsequent stress may lead to a membrane permeation or permeabilization. A main goal of this study is to introduce new methods to characterize such phenomena using isothermal titration calorimetry. POPC unilamellar vesicles and a series of alkyl maltosides are used as model systems; the unilamellarity was checked by NMR with the shift reagent Pr(3+). The free energy, enthalpy, and entropy associated with the asymmetry stress are estimated by comparing partitioning data of uptake versus release assays. The asymmetry stress is of enthalpic nature and somewhat reduced by entropic effects. Stimulated membrane permeation occurs at a mean maltoside-to-lipid ratio of approximately 0.2, which corresponds to an apparent area asymmetry of approximately 30% and a limiting free energy of the order of 2 kJ/mol of maltoside. Membrane solubilization to coexisting micelles proceeds at mole ratios of approximately 0.73, 0.81, and 0.88 (C(12)-, C(13)-, and C(14)-maltoside, respectively). Experiments with vesicles pre-loaded with surfactant in both monolayers provide evidence that the translocation threshold is controlled by the asymmetrically incorporated surfactant, whereas the onset of solubilization depends on the total surfactant content in the membrane. Free copies of the uptake and release fitting script including instructions are available upon request to heerklotz@gmx.net.

Early stage shape change of human erythrocytes after application of electric field pulses

Erythrocytes which receive electric field pulses are subject to poration, fusion and shape changes due to electrodynamic forces, aminophospholipid perturbation and influences on the normal flip-flop process. The shape change characteristics of cells suspended in different media were analysed after application of rectangular electric field pulses from t=11-44 micros and from E=4-8 kV/cm. Albumin is shown to decelerate the echinocyte shape change within the first few seconds after pulse application. The addition of fluoride and vanadate accelerates the shape change due to their inhibiting influence on the aminophospholipid translocase. For both the duration of the field pulse and its field strength, there exist lower threshold values under which no early stage shape change is observable. The activation energy calculated from the dissipative influence of the electric field alone is smaller than expected, indicating the electrodynamic influence on the flip-flop process. Cell shapes were additionally analysed by contour tracing to focus on the echinocyte spicule distribution after pulse application. This image analysis revealed that, with an increase of both pulse duration and field strength, the shape change velocity and the shape change intensity increase.

Acceleration of phospholipid flip-flop in the erythrocyte membrane by detergents differing in polar head group and alkyl chain length

The detergents, alkyltrimethylammonium bromide, N-alkyl-N, N-dimethyl-3-ammonio-1-propanesulfonate (zwittergent), alkane sulfonate, alkylsulfate, alkyl-beta-D-glucopyranoside, alkyl-beta-D-maltoside, dodecanoyl-N-methylglucamide, polyethylene glycol monoalkyl ether and Triton X-100, all produce a concentration-dependent acceleration of the slow passive transbilayer movement of NBD-labeled phosphatidylcholine in the human erythrocyte membrane. Above a threshold concentration, which was well below the CMC and characteristic for each detergent, the flip rate increases exponentially upon an increase of the detergent concentration in the medium. The detergent-induced flip correlates with reported membrane-expanding effects of the detergents at antihemolytic concentrations. From the dependence of the detergent concentration required for a defined flip acceleration on the estimated membrane volume, membrane/water partition coefficients for the detergents could be determined and effective detergent concentrations in the membrane calculated. The effective membrane concentrations are similar for most types of detergents but are 10-fold lower for octaethylene glycol monoalkyl ether and Triton X-100. The effectiveness of a given type of detergent is rather independent of its alkyl chain length. Since detergents do not reduce the high temperature dependence of the flip process the detergent-induced flip is proposed to be due to an enhanced probability of formation of transient hydrophobic structural defects in the membrane barrier which may result from perturbation of the interfacial region of the bilayer by inserted detergent molecules.