Protection of the membrane permeability barrier by annexins

Biological membranes are exposed to a number of chemical and physical stresses that may alter the structure of the lipid bilayer in such a way that the permeability barrier to hydrophilic molecules and ions is degraded. These stresses include amphiphilic molecules involved in metabolism and signaling, highly charged polyamines, membrane-permeating peptides, and mechanical and osmotic stresses. As annexins are known to bind to lipid headgroups in the presence of calcium and increase the order of the bilayer lipids, this study addressed whether this activity of annexins provides a potential benefit to the membrane by protecting the bilayer against disruptions of this nature or can promote restoration of the permeability barrier after damage by such agents. The release of carboxyfluorescein from large unilamellar vesicles composed of lipids characteristically present in the inner leaflet of cell membranes (phosphatidylserine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylcholine, and cholesterol) was used to measure membrane permeability. It was determined that in the presence of calcium, annexin A5 reduced the level of baseline leakage from vesicles and reduced or reversed damage due to arachidonic acid, lysophosphatidic acid, lysophosphatidylcholine, diacylglycerol, monoacylglycerol, spermidine, amyloid-β, amylin, and osmotic shock. Annexin A6 was also able to provide membrane protection in many but not all of these cases. In a cell, it is likely annexins would move to sites of breakdown of the permeability barrier because of the calcium-dependent promotion of the binding of annexins to membranes at sites of calcium entry. Because of the fundamental importance to life of maintaining the permeability barrier of the cell membrane, it is proposed here that this property of annexins may represent a critical, primordial activity that explains their great evolutionary conservation and abundant expression in most cells.