Kinetic studies of spreading DMPC vesicles at the air-solution interface using film pressure measurements

Effect of cationic dendrimer on membrane mimetic systems in the form of monolayer and bilayer

Interactions between a zwitterionic phospholipid, 1, 2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine (DPPC) and four anionic phospholipids dihexadecyl phosphate (DHP), 1, 2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoglycerol (DMPG), 1, 2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphate (DPP) and 1, 2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phospho ethanol (DPPEth) in combination with an additional amount of 30 mol% cholesterol were separately investigated at air-buffer interface through surface pressure (π) - area (A) measurements. π-A isotherm derived parameters revealed maximum negative deviation from ideality for the mixtures comprising 30 mol% anionic lipids. Besides the film functionality, structural changes of the monomolecular films at different surface pressures in the absence and presence of polyamidoamine (PAMAM, generation 4), a cationic dendrimer, were visualised through Brewster angle microscopy and fluorescence microscopic studies. Fluidity/rigidity of monolayers were assessed by surface dilatational rheology studies. Effect of PAMAM on the formation of adsorbed monolayer, due to bilayer disintegration of liposomes (DPPC:anionic lipids= 7:3 M/M, and 30 mol% cholesterol) were monitored by surface pressure (π) - time (t) isotherms. Bilayer disintegration kinetics were dependent on lipid head group and chain length, besides dendrimer concentration. Such studies are considered to be an in vitro cell membrane model where the alteration of molecular orientation play important roles in understanding the nature of interaction between the dendrimer and cell membrane. Liposome-dendrimer aggregates were nontoxic to breast cancer cell line as well as in doxorubicin treated MDA-MB-468 cell line suggesting their potential as drug delivery systems.

Phase Behavior of GM1-Containing DMPC-Cholesterol Monolayer: Experimental and Theoretical Study

Organization and distribution of lipids in cellular membranes play an important role in a diverse range of biological processes, such as membrane trafficking and signaling. Here, we present the combined experimental and simulated results to elucidate the phase behavioral features of ganglioside monosialo 1 (GM1)-containing mixed monolayer of the lipids 1,2-dimyristoyl- sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPC) and cholesterol (CHOL). Two monolayers having compositions DMPC-CHOL and GM1-DMPC-CHOL are investigated at air-water and air-solid interfaces using Langmuir-Blodgett experiments and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), respectively, to ascertain the phase behavior change of the monolayers. Surface pressure isotherms and SEM imaging of domain formation indicate that addition of GM1 to the monolayer at low surface pressure causes a fluidization of the system but once the system attains the surface pressure corresponding to its liquid-condensed phase, the monolayer becomes more ordered than the system devoid of GM1 and interacts among each other more cooperatively. Besides, the condensing effect of cholesterol on the DMPC monolayer was also verified by our experiments. Apart from these, the effects induced by GM1 on the phase behavior of the binary mixture of DMPC-CHOL were studied with and without applying liquid-expanded (L_E)-liquid-condensed (L_C) equilibrium surface pressure using molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. Our molecular dynamics (MD) simulation results give an atomistic-level explanation of our experimental findings and furnish a similar conclusion.

Lipid monolayer collapse and microbubble stability

Microbubbles are micrometer-size gaseous particles suspended in water, and they are often stabilized by a lipid monolayer shell. Natural microbubbles are found in freshwater and saltwater systems, and engineered microbubbles have a variety of applications in food sciences, biotechnology and medicine. Lipid-coated microbubbles are found to have remarkable stability and mechanical behavior owing to the resistance of the lipid monolayer encapsulation to collapse. The purpose of this review is to tie in recent observations of lipid-coated microbubble dissolution and gas exchange with current literature on the physics of lipid monolayer collapse in the context of lung surfactant. Based on this analysis, we conclude that microbubble shells collapse through the nucleation of microscopic folds, which then catalyze the formation and aggregation of new folds, leading to macroscopic folding events. This process results in a cyclic behavior of crumple-to-smooth transitions, which can be modulated through lipid composition. Eventually, the microbubbles stabilize at 1-2 μm diameter, regardless of initial size or lipid composition, and various mechanisms for this stabilization are postulated. Our ultimate goal is to inspire the reader to consider lipid monolayer collapse as the main long-term stabilizing mechanism for lipid-coated microbubbles, and to stimulate the use of microbubbles as a platform for studying monolayer collapse phenomena.

Atomic force microscopy studies of a floating-bilayer lipid membrane on a Au(111) surface modified with a hydrophilic monolayer

The surface of a gold electrode was functionalized with a hydrophilic monolayer of 1-thio-β-D-glucose formed by spontaneous self-assembly. The Langmuir-Blodgett/Langmuir-Schaefer (LB/LS) method was then used to assemble a bilayer onto the modified Au(111) surface. The bilayer lipid membrane (BLM) was separated from the Au(111) electrode surface by incorporating the monosialoganglioside GM1 into the inner leaflet of a bilayer composed of 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPC) and cholesterol. To make the inner leaflet, monolayers of GM1/DMPC/cholesterol with mole ratios of 1:6:3, 2:5:3, and 3:4:3 were used. The outer leaflet was composed of a 7:3 mole ratio of DMPC/cholesterol. Because of the amphiphilic properties of GM1, the hydrophobic acyl chains were incorporated into the BLM, whereas the large hydrophilic carbohydrate headgroups were physically adsorbed to the Au(111) electrode surface, creating a "floating" BLM (fBLM). This model contained a water-rich reservoir between the BLM and the gold surface. In addition, because of the bilayer being physically adsorbed onto the support, the fluidity of the BLM was maintained. The compression isotherms were measured at the air/water interface to determine the phase behavior and optimal transfer conditions. The images acquired using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and the force-distance measurements showed that the structure of the fBLM evolved with increasing GM1 content from 10 to 30 mol %, undergoing a transition from a corrugated to a homogeneous phase. This change was associated with a significant increase in bilayer thickness (from ∼5.3 to 7.3 nm). The highest-quality fBLM was produced with 30 mol % GM1.

Intrinsic heterogeneity in liposome suspensions caused by the dynamic spontaneous formation of hydrophobic active sites in lipid membranes

The spontaneous, dynamic formation of hydrophobic active sites in lipid bilayer membranes is studied and characterized. It is shown that the rates of formation and consumption of these active sites control at least two important properties of liposomes: their affinity for hydrophobic surfaces and the rate by which they spontaneously release encapsulated molecules. The adhesion and spreading of liposomes onto hydrophobic polystyrene nanoparticles and the spontaneous leakage of an encapsulated fluorescent dye were monitored for different liposome compositions employing Cryo-TEM, DLS, and fluorescence measurements. It was observed that an apparently homogeneous, monodisperse liposome suspension behaves as if composed by two different populations: a fast leaking population that presents affinity for the hydrophobic substrate employed, and a slow leaking population that does not attach immediately to it. The results reported here suggest that the proportion of liposomes in each population changes over time until a dynamic equilibrium is reached. It is shown that this phenomenon can lead to irreproducibility in, for example, spontaneous leakage experiments, as extruded liposomes leak much faster just after preparation than 24 h afterward. Our findings account for discrepancies in several experimental results reported in the literature. To our knowledge, this is the first systematic study addressing the issue of an existing intrinsic heterogeneity of liposome suspensions.

The accelerated late adsorption of pulmonary surfactant

Adsorption of pulmonary surfactant to an air-water interface lowers surface tension (γ) at rates that initially decrease progressively, but which then accelerate close to the equilibrium γ. The studies here tested a series of hypotheses concerning mechanisms that might cause the late accelerated drop in γ. Experiments used captive bubbles and a Wilhelmy plate to measure γ during adsorption of vesicles containing constituents from extracted calf surfactant. The faster fall in γ reflects faster adsorption rather than any feature of the equation of state that relates γ to surface concentration (Γ). Adsorption accelerates when γ reaches a critical value rather than after an interval required to reach that γ. The hydrophobic surfactant proteins (SPs) represent key constituents, both for reaching the γ at which the acceleration occurs and for producing the acceleration itself. The γ at which rates of adsorption increase, however, is unaffected by the Γ of protein in the films. In the absence of the proteins, a phosphatidylethanolamine, which, like the SPs, induces fusion of the vesicles with the interfacial film, also causes adsorption to accelerate. Our results suggest that the late acceleration is characteristic of adsorption by fusion of vesicles with the nascent film, which proceeds more favorably when the Γ of the lipids exceeds a critical value.

Dynamic properties of cationic diacyl-glycerol-arginine-based surfactant/phospholipid mixtures at the air/water interface

In this Article, we study the binary surface interactions of 1,2-dimyristoyl-rac-glycero-3-O-(N(alpha)-acetyl-L-arginine) hydrochloride (1414RAc) with 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine (DPPC) on 0.1 M sodium chloride solutions. 1414RAc is a novel monocationic surfactant that has potential applications as an antimicrobial agent, is biodegradable, and shows a toxicity activity smaller than that of other commercial cationic surfactants. DPPC phospholipid was used as a model membrane component. The dynamic surface tension of 1414RAc/DPPC aqueous dispersions injected into the saline subphase was followed by tensiometry. The layer formation for the mixtures is always accelerated with respect to DPPC, and surprisingly, the surface tension reduction is faster and reaches lower surface tension values at surfactant concentration below its critical micellar concentration (cmc). Interfacial dilational rheology properties of mixed films spread on the air/water interface were determined by the dynamic oscillation method using a Langmuir trough. The effect of surfactant mole fraction on the rheological parameters of 1414RAc/DPPC mixed monolayers was studied at a relative amplitude of area deformation of 5% and a frequency of 50 mHz. The monolayer viscoelasticity shows a nonideal mixing behavior with predominance of the surfactant properties. This nonideal behavior has been attributed to the prevalence of electrostatic interactions.

Molecular resolution imaging of an antibiotic peptide in a lipid matrix

In this work, we show molecular resolution scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) images of gramicidin, a model antibacterial peptide, inserted into a phospholipid matrix. The resolution of the images is superior to that obtained in previous attempts to image gramicidin in a lipid environment using atomic force microscopy (AFM). This breakthrough has allowed visualization of individual peptide molecules surrounded by lipid molecules. We have observed several important features: the peptide molecules do not aggregate, the peptide molecules adopt a single conformation corresponding to a specific ion channel form, and the lipid molecules adjacent to the peptide molecules are systematically longer than those in the lipid matrix. These results constitute a new approach to obtain structural characteristics of antibiotic peptides in lipid assemblies that is necessary for the understanding of their biological activity.

Kinetics of Liposome Adhesion on a Mercury Electrode

The adhesion of liposomes on a mercury electrode leads to capacitive signals due to the formation of islands of lecithin monolayers. Integration of the current-time transients gives charge-time transients that can be fitted by the empirical equation Q(t) = Q(0) + Q(1)(1 - exp(-t/tau(1))) + Q(2)(1 - exp(-t/tau(2))), where the first term on the right side is caused by the docking of the liposome on the mercury surface, the second term is caused by the opening of the liposome, and the third term is caused by the spreading of the lecithin island on the mercury surface. The temperature dependence of the two time constants tau(1) and tau(2) and the temperature dependence of the overall adhesion rate allow determination of the activation energies of the opening, the spreading, and the overall adhesion process both for gel-phase 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPC) and for liquid-crystalline-phase DMPC liposomes. In all cases, the spreading is the rate-determining process. Negative apparent activation energies for the spreading and overall adhesion process of liquid-crystalline-phase DMPC liposomes can be explained by taking into account the weak adsorption equilibria of the intact liposomes and the opened but not yet spread liposomes. A formal kinetic analysis of the reaction scheme supports the empirical equation used for fitting the charge-time transients. The developed kinetic model of liposome adhesion on mercury is similar to kinetic models published earlier to describe the fusion of liposomes. The new approach can be used to probe the stability of liposome membranes.