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Atomic Force Microscopy Imaging and Force Spectroscopy of Supported Lipid Bilayers
Published on: July 22, 2015
Influence of alpha-hydroxylation of glycolipids on domain formation in lipid monolayers
Barbara Windschiegl1, Claudia Steinem
1Institut für Analytische Chemie, Chemo- und Biosensorik, Universität Regensburg, 93040 Regensburg, Germany.
Abstract:
By means of fluorescence and scanning force microscopy (SFM), we investigated the phase behavior of lipid monolayers composed of a mixture of 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine, sphingomyelin, and cholesterol (5/2/3) with either alpha-hydroxylated or nonhydroxylated galactocerebroside. Fluorescence images of lipid monolayers at the air-water interface demonstrate that, independent of the lipid mixture, phase separation occurs at low surface pressure up to 4-6 mN m(-1), while an almost homogeneous phase is observed at larger surface pressures. However, by means of SFM of lipid monolayers transferred by the Langmuir-Blodgett technique at around 30 mN m(-1), nanometer-sized domains became discernible in those lipid mixtures that contained galactocerebroside, while, in that without a glycolipid, no such domain formation was visible. Moreover, the alpha-hydroxy group of the galactocerebroside alters the size and the total area of the domains significantly.
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