Electrochemical investigation of melittin reconstituted into a mercury-supported lipid bilayer

What Ion Flow along Ion Channels Can Tell us about Their Functional Activity

The functional activity of channel-forming peptides and proteins is most directly verified by monitoring the flow of physiologically relevant inorganic ions, such as Na⁺, K⁺ and Cl^-, along the ion channels. Electrical current measurements across bilayer lipid membranes (BLMs) interposed between two aqueous solutions have been widely employed to this end and are still extensively used. However, a major drawback of BLMs is their fragility, high sensitivity toward vibrations and mechanical shocks, and low resistance to electric fields. To overcome this problem, metal-supported tethered BLMs (tBLMs) have been devised, where the BLM is anchored to the metal via a hydrophilic spacer that replaces and mimics the water phase on the metal side. However, only mercury-supported tBLMs can measure and regulate the flow of the above inorganic ions, thanks to mercury liquid state and high hydrogen overpotential. This review summarizes the main results achieved by BLMs incorporating voltage-gated channel-forming peptides, interpreting them on the basis of a kinetic mechanism of nucleation and growth. Hg-supported tBLMs are then described, and their potential for the investigation of voltage-gated and ohmic channels is illustrated by the use of different electrochemical techniques.

Potential Controls the Interaction of Liposomes with Octadecanol-Modified Au Electrodes: An in Situ AFM Study

The formation of supported lipid bilayers using liposomes requires interaction with the solid surface, rupture of the liposome, and spreading to cover the surface with a lipid bilayer. This can result in a less-than-uniform coating of the solid surface. Presented is a method that uses the electrochemical poration of an adsorbed lipid-like layer on a Au electrode to control the interaction of 100 nm DOPC liposomes. An octadecanol-coated Au-on-mica surface was imaged using tapping-mode AFM during the application of potential in the presence or absence of liposomes. When the substrate potential was made negative enough, defects formed in the adsorbed layer and new taller features were observed. More features were observed and existing features increased in size with time spent at this negative poration potential. The new features were 1.8-2.0 nm higher than the octadecanol-coated gold surface, half the thickness of a DOPC bilayer. These features were not observed in the absence of liposomes when undergoing the same potential perturbation. In the presence of liposomes, the application of a poration potential was needed to initiate the formation of these taller features. Once the applied potential was removed, the features stopped growing and no new regions were observed. The size of these new regions was consistent with the footprint of a flattened 100 nm liposome. It is speculated that the DOPC liposomes were able to interact with the defects and became soluble in the octadecanol, creating a taller region that was limited in size to the liposome that adsorbed and became incorporated. This AFM study confirms previous in situ fluorescence measurements of the same system and illustrates the use of a potential perturbation to control the formation of these regions of increased DOPC content.

Interaction Study of Phospholipid Membranes with an N-Glucosylated β-Turn Peptide Structure Detecting Autoantibodies Biomarkers of Multiple Sclerosis

The interaction of lipid environments with the type I’ β-turn peptide structure called CSF114 and its N-glucosylated form CSF114(Glc), previously developed as a synthetic antigenic probe recognizing specific autoantibodies in a subpopulation of multiple sclerosis patients’ serum, was investigated by fluorescence spectroscopy and electrochemical experiments using large unilamellar vesicles, mercury supported lipid self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) and tethered bilayer lipid membranes (tBLMs). The synthetic antigenic probe N-glucosylated peptide CSF114(Glc) and its unglucosylated form interact with the polar heads of lipid SAMs of dioleoylphosphatidylcholine at nonzero transmembrane potentials, probably establishing a dual electrostatic interaction of the trimethylammonium  and phosphate groups of the phosphatidylcholine polar head with the Glu⁵ and His⁹ residues on the opposite ends of the CSF114(Glc) β-turn encompassing residues 6-9. His⁹ protonation at pH 7 eliminates this dual interaction. CSF114(Glc) is adsorbed on top of SAMs of mixtures of dioleoylphosphatidylcholine with sphingomyelin, an important component of myelin, whose proteins are hypothesized to undergo an aberrant N-glucosylation triggering the autoimmune response. Incorporation of the type I’ β-turn peptide structure CSF114 into lipid SAMs by potential scans of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy induces defects causing a slight permeabilization toward cadmium ions. The N-glucopeptide CSF114(Glc) does not affect  tBLMs to a detectable extent.

Dermcidin, an anionic antimicrobial peptide: influence of lipid charge, pH and Zn2+ on its interaction with a biomimetic membrane

The mechanism of membrane permeabilization by dermcidin (DCD-1L), an antimicrobial peptide present in human sweat, was investigated at a mercury-supported monolayer of dioleoylphosphatidylcholine (DOPC) or dioleoylphosphatidylserine (DOPS) and at a mercury-supported tethered bilayer lipid membrane (tBLM) consisting of a thiolipid (DPTL) with a DOPC or DOPS monolayer self-assembled on top of it. In an unbuffered solution of pH 5.4, DCD-1L is almost neutral and permeabilizes a DPTL/DOPS tBLM at transmembrane potentials, ϕtrans, which are physiological. In a pH 7 buffer solution DCD-1L bears two negative charges and has no effect on a DPTL/DOPC tBLM, whereas it permeabilizes a DPTL/DOPS tBLM only outside the physiological ϕtrans range; however, the presence of zinc ion induces DCD-1L to permeabilize the DPTL/DOPS tBLM at physiological ϕtrans values. The effect of zinc ions suggests a DCD-1L conformation with its positive N-terminus embedded in the lipid bilayer and the negative C terminus floating on the membrane surface. This conformation can be stabilized by a zinc ion bridge between the His(38) residue of the C terminus and the carboxyl group of DOPS. Chronocoulometric potential jumps from ϕtrans ≅ +160 mV to sufficiently negative values yield charge transients exhibiting a sigmoidal shape preceded by a relatively long "foot". This behavior is indicative of ion-channel formation characterized by disruption of DCD-1L clusters adsorbed on top of the lipid bilayer, incorporation of the resulting monomers and their aggregation into hydrophilic pores by a mechanism of nucleation and growth.

Mercury-supported biomimetic membranes for the investigation of antimicrobial peptides

Tethered bilayer lipid membranes (tBLMs) consist of a lipid bilayer interposed between an aqueous solution and a hydrophilic "spacer" anchored to a gold or mercury electrode. There is great potential for application of these biomimetic membranes for the elucidation of structure-function relationships of membrane peptides and proteins. A drawback in the use of mercury-supported tBLMs with respect to gold-supported ones is represented by the difficulty in applying surface sensitive, spectroscopic and scanning probe microscopic techniques to gather information on the architecture of these biomimetic membranes. Nonetheless, mercury-supported tBLMs are definitely superior to gold-supported biomimetic membranes for the investigation of the function of membrane peptides and proteins, thanks to a fluidity and lipid lateral mobility comparable with those of bilayer lipid membranes interposed between two aqueous phases (BLMs), but with a much higher robustness and resistance to electric fields. The different features of mercury-supported tBLMs reconstituted with functionally active membrane proteins and peptides of bacteriological or pharmacological interest may be disclosed by a judicious choice of the most appropriate electrochemical techniques. We will describe the way in which electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, potential-step chronocoulometry, cyclic voltammetry and phase-sensitive AC voltammetry are conveniently employed to investigate the structure of mercury-supported tBLMs and the mode of interaction of antimicrobial peptides reconstituted into them.

Molecular response and cooperative behavior during the interactions of melittin with a membrane: dissipative quartz crystal microbalance experiments and simulations

The molecular-level interactions of an antimicrobial peptide melittin with supported membrane were studied by the combination of dissipative quartz crystal microbalance (QCM-D) experiments and computer simulations. We found the response behavior of lipids upon peptide adsorption greatly influence their interactions. The perturbance and reorientation of the lipid in liquid phase facilitate the insertion of melittin in a trans-membrane way, but in solid phase, asymmetrical membrane disruption happens. Apart from the lipid state, the local peptide-to-lipid ratio also affects the insertion capacity of melittin. When the local peptide number density is high, adjacent peptides can cooperatively penetrate into the membrane. This observation explains the occurrence of the conventional "carpet" mechanism.

Melittin adsorption and lipid monolayer disruption at liquid-liquid interfaces

Melittin, a membrane-active peptide with antimicrobial activity, was investigated at the interface formed between two immiscible electrolyte solutions (ITIES) supported on a metallic electrode. Ion-transfer voltammetry showed well-defined semi-reversible transfer peaks along with adsorptive peaks. The reversible adsorption of melittin at the liquid-liquid interface is qualitatively discussed from voltammetric data and experimentally confirmed by real-time image analysis of video snapshots. It is also demonstrated that polarization of the water/1,2-DCE interface results in drastic drop shape variations caused by large variations of the interfacial tension. The experimental data also confirmed that maximum adsorption occurs near the ion transfer potential. Finally, the interaction of melittin with a monolayer of L-α-dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine (DPPC) was also investigated showing that melittin destabilizes the lipidic monolayer facilitating its desorption. The non-covalent complex formation between melittin and DPPC was confirmed by mass spectrometry.

Tethered bilayer lipid micromembranes for single-channel recording: the role of adsorbed and partially fused lipid vesicles

A mercury-supported bilayer lipid micromembrane was prepared by anchoring a thiolipid monolayer to a mercury cap electrodeposited on a platinum microdisc about 20 μm in diameter; a lipid monolayer was then self-assembled on top of the thiolipid monolayer either by vesicle fusion or by spilling a few drops of a lipid solution in chloroform on the cap and allowing the solvent to evaporate. Single-channel recording following incorporation of the alamethicin channel-forming peptide exhibits quite different features, depending on the procedure followed to form the distal lipid monolayer. The "spilling" procedure, which avoids the formation of adsorbed or partially fused vesicles, yields very sharp single-channel currents lasting only one or two milliseconds. These are ascribed to ionic flux into the hydrophilic spacer moiety of the thiolipid. Conversely, the vesicle-fusion procedure yields much longer single-channel openings analogous to those obtained with conventional bilayer lipid membranes, albeit smaller. This difference in behavior is explained by ascribing the latter single-channel currents to ionic flux into vesicles adsorbed and/or partially fused onto the tethered lipid bilayer, via capacitive coupling.

A gigaseal obtained with a self-assembled long-lifetime lipid bilayer on a single polyelectrolyte multilayer-filled nanopore

A lipid bilayer with gigaohm resistance was fabricated over a single 800 nm pore in a Si3N4 chip using 50 nm liposomes. The nanopore was prefilled with a polyelectrolyte multilayer (PEM) that triggered the spontaneous fusion of the lipid vesicles. Pore-forming peptide melittin was incorporated in the bilayer, and single channel activities were monitored for a period of 2.5 weeks. The long lifetime of the system enabled the observation of the time-dependent stabilization effect of the melittin open state upon bias application.

Major intrinsic proteins in biomimetic membranes

Biological membranes define the structural and functional boundaries in living cells and their organelles. The integrity of the cell depends on its ability to separate inside from outside and yet at the same time allow massive transport of matter in and out the cell. Nature has elegantly met this challenge by developing membranes in the form of lipid bilayers in which specialized transport proteins are incorporated. This raises the question: is it possible to mimic biological membranes and create a membrane based sensor and/or separation device? In the development of a biomimetic sensor/separation technology, a unique class of membrane transport proteins is especially interesting-the major intrinsic proteins (MIPs). Generally, MIPs conduct water molecules and selected solutes in and out of the cell while preventing the passage of other solutes, a property critical for the conservation of the cells internal pH and salt concentration. Also known as water channels or aquaporins they are highly efficient membrane pore proteins some of which are capable of transporting water at very high rates up to 10(9) molecules per second. Some MIPs transport other small, uncharged solutes, such as glycerol and other permeants such as carbon dioxide, nitric oxide, ammonia, hydrogen peroxide and the metalloids antimonite, arsenite, silicic and boric acid depending on the effective restriction mechanism of the protein. The flux properties of MIPs thus lead to the question ifMIPs can be used in separation devices or as sensor devices based on, e.g., the selective permeation of metalloids. In principle a MIP based membrane sensor/separation device requires the supporting biomimetic matrix to be virtually impermeable to anything but water or the solute in question. In practice, however, a biomimetic support matrix will generally have finite permeabilities to both electrolytes and non-electrolytes. The feasibility of a biomimetic MIP device thus depends on the relative transport contribution from both protein and biomimetic support matrix. Also the biomimetic matrix must be encapsulated in order to protect it and make it sufficiently stable in a final application. Here, I specifically discuss the feasibility of developing osmotic biomimetic MIP membranes, but the technical issues are of general concern in the design ofbiomimetic membranes capable of supporting selective transmembrane fluxes.

In situ PM-IRRAS studies of an archaea analogue thiolipid assembled on a au(111) electrode surface

Polarization modulation infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (PM-IRRAS) has been applied to determine the conformation, orientation, and hydration of a monolayer of 2,3-di-O-phytanyl-sn-glycerol-1-tetraethylene glycol-dl-alpha-lipoic acid ester (DPTL) self-assembled at a gold electrode surface. This Archaea analogue thiolipid has been recently employed to build tethered lipid bilayers. By synthesizing DPT(d16)L, a DPTL molecule with a deuterium substituted tetraethylene glycol spacer, it was possible to differentiate the C-H stretch vibrations of the phytanyl chains from the tetraethylene glycol spacer and acquire the characteristic IR spectra for the chains, spacer, and lipoic acid headgroup separately. Our results show that the structure of the monolayer displays remarkable stability in a broad range of electrode potentials and that the phytanyl chains remain in a liquid crystalline state. The tetraethylene glycol chains are coiled, and the IR spectrum for this region shows that it is in the disordered state. The most significant result of this study is the information that in contrast to expectations the spacer region is poorly hydrated. Our results have implications for the design of a tethered lipid membrane based on this thiolipid.

A metal-supported biomimetic micromembrane allowing the recording of single-channel activity and of impedance spectra of membrane proteins

A novel tethered bilayer lipid micromembrane (tBLmicroM) was prepared and characterized. It consists of a mercury cap electrodeposited on a platinum microelectrode, about 20 microm in diameter. The micromembrane was prepared by tethering to the mercury cap a thiolipid monolayer and by then self-assembling a lipid monolayer on top of it. The thiolipid consisted of a disulfidated tetraoxyethylene hydrophilic spacer covalently linked to two phytanyl chains. Upon incorporating OmpF porin in the tBLmicroM, its single-channel activity was recorded by the patch-clamp technique, and its particular features described. An electrochemical impedance spectrum of the tBLmicroM incorporating OmpF porin is also reported. To the best of our knowledge, this tBLmicroM is the first metal-supported biomimetic micromembrane capable of incorporating non-engineered channel proteins in a functionally active state from their detergent solutions, and of allowing the recording of single-channel activity and of impedance spectra of these proteins via ion translocation into the hydrophilic spacer. The limited spaciousness of the spacer prevents a statistical analysis based on current-amplitude or blockage-time histograms. Nonetheless, the robustness, stability, ease of preparation and disposability of the present tBLmicroM may open the way to the realization of a channel-protein microarray platform allowing a high throughput drug screening.

A new method to evaluate the surface dipole potential of thiol and disulfide self-assembled monolayers and its application to a disulfidated tetraoxyethylene glycol

A procedure to evaluate the surface dipole potential chi of thiol and disulfide self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) is described. The procedure consists of self-assembling the monolayers on a hanging mercury drop electrode and of measuring the charge involved in a progressive expansion of the mercury drop. This measurement is then combined with an estimate of the charge density q experienced by diffuse layer ions, obtained by measuring the diffuse layer capacitance of the SAM at different electrolyte concentrations by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. These chi measurements, combined with chronocoulometric measurements of the total charge density sigma(M) against potential, indicate that SAMs of tetraoxyethylene glycol-D,L-alpha-lipoic acid ester (TEGL), 2,3-di-O-phytanyl-sn-glycerol-1-tetraoxyethylene glycol-D,L-alpha-lipoic ester (DPTL), and trioxyethyleneoxythiol (EO3) on mercury may undergo a reversal in the surface dipole potential of their polyoxyethylene chain with a change in the interfacial electric field. Moreover, TEGL and EO3 form stable SAMs without electron transfer to the metal, while no such conclusion can be drawn for DPTL.

Electrochemical characterization of pore formation by bacterial protein toxins on hybrid supported membranes

The interaction of pore-forming streptolysin O (SLO) with biomimetic lipid membranes has been studied by electrochemical methods. Phosphatidylcholine lipid vesicles were deposited onto gold electrodes modified with supporting layers of hexyl thioctate (HT) or thioctic acid tri(ethylene glycol) ester (TA-TEGE), and integrity and permeability of the resulting membranes were characterized by cyclic voltammetry and impedance spectroscopy. Both positively and negatively charged electrochemical probes, potassium ferrocyanide, hexaammineruthenium(III) chloride, and ferrocene carboxylic acid (FCA), were employed to evaluate their suitability to probe the membrane permeability properties, with FCA exhibiting ideal behavior and thus employed throughout the work. Fusion of vesicles incubated with SLO on the electrodes yielded membranes that showed a distinctive response pattern for FCA as a function of SLO concentration. A direct dependence of both the currents and peak separation of FCA in the cyclic voltammograms was observed over a concentration range of 0-10 hemolytic units (HU)/microL of the toxin. The interaction of SLO with preformed supported lipid membranes was also investigated, and much lower response was observed, suggesting a different extent of membrane-toxin interactions on such an interface. Nonionic surfactant Triton was found to disrupt the vesicle structure but could not completely remove a preformed membrane to fully restore the electrode response. The information reported here offers some unique insight into toxin-surface interactions on a hybrid membrane, facilitating the development of electrochemically based sensing platforms for detecting trace amounts of bacterial toxins via the perforation process.

An electrochemical investigation of sarcolipin reconstituted into a mercury-supported lipid bilayer

Sarcolipin was incorporated into a lipid bilayer anchored to a mercury electrode through a hydrophilic tetraethyleneoxy chain. The behavior of this tethered bilayer lipid membrane incorporating sarcolipin was investigated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and by recording charge versus time curves after potential jumps. When the transmembrane potential starts to become negative on the trans side, evidence is provided that sarcolipin aggregates into ion-conducting pores. Over the range of physiological transmembrane potentials, these pores are permeable to small inorganic anions such as chloride, phosphate, or sulfate but impermeable to inorganic cations such as Na+ and K+. Only at transmembrane potentials more negative than approximately -150 mV on the trans side do sarcolipin channels allow the translocation of the latter cations. A tentative relationship between this property of sarcolipin and its regulatory function on Ca-ATPase of sarcoplasmic reticulum is proposed.