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Tethered Bilayer Lipid Membranes to Monitor Heat Transfer between Gold Nanoparticles and Lipid Membranes
Published on: December 8, 2020
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Molecular interactions between gold nanoparticles and model cell membranes.
Peipei Hu1, Xiaoxian Zhang, Chi Zhang
1Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan, 930 North University Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA. zhanc@umich.edu.
Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics : PCCP
|March 18, 2015
Summary
Gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) induce lipid flip-flop in model cell membranes. The rate of this lipid flip-flop increases with Au NP size when particle number or surface area is constant, but not when mass is constant.
Area of Science:
- Biophysics
- Nanotechnology
- Cell Biology
Background:
- Nanoparticle (NP) interactions with cells are crucial for biomedical applications.
- Understanding NP-cell membrane interactions requires in situ, real-time surface-sensitive techniques.
- The response of cell membrane molecules to NP exposure is not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effects of gold nanoparticle (Au NP) size on model cell membranes.
- To observe and quantify NP-induced changes in membrane lipid dynamics.
- To elucidate the relationship between NP characteristics and membrane perturbation.
Main Methods:
- Utilized sum frequency generation (SFG) vibrational spectroscopy.
- Examined interactions between lipid bilayers (model cell membranes) and Au NPs of varying sizes.
- Controlled for NP mass, particle number, and surface area during experiments.
Main Results:
- All tested Au NP sizes induced lipid flip-flop in the model membranes.
- Lipid flip-flop rate increased with Au NP size when particle number or surface area was constant.
- Lipid flip-flop rate was independent of NP size when mass was constant, suggesting the importance of effective surface contact area.
Conclusions:
- Provided the first direct observation of lipid flip-flop induced by Au NP-membrane interactions.
- Demonstrated that Au NP size significantly influences membrane dynamics.
- Highlighted the role of effective surface contact area in NP-membrane interactions.
