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Assembly of Cell Mimicking Supported and Suspended Lipid Bilayer Models for the Study of Molecular Interactions
Published on: August 3, 2021
Bilayer undulation dynamics in unilamellar phospholipid vesicles: effect of temperature, cholesterol and trehalose
Beate-Annette Brüning1, Sylvain Prévost2, Ralf Stehle2
1Soft Matter and Functional Materials, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, Hahn-Meitner Platz 1, 14109 Berlin, Germany; Radiation Science and Technology, Delft University of Technology, Mekelweg 15, JB 2629 Delft, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
We report a combined dynamic light scattering (DLS) and neutron spin-echo (NSE) study on the local bilayer undulation dynamics of phospholipid vesicles composed of 1,2-dimyristoyl-glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine (DMPC) under the influence of temperature and the additives cholesterol and trehalose. The additives affect vesicle size and self-diffusion. Mechanical properties of the membrane and corresponding bilayer undulations are tuned by changing lipid headgroup or acyl chain properties through temperature or composition. On the local length scale, changes at the lipid headgroup influence the bilayer bending rigidity κ less than changes at the lipid acyl chain: We observe a bilayer softening around the main phase transition temperature Tm of the single lipid system, and stiffening when more cholesterol is added, in concordance with literature. Surprisingly, no effect on the mechanical properties of the vesicles is observed upon the addition of trehalose.
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