Studies on the interactions of bisphenols with anionic phospholipids of decomposer membranes in model systems

Bisphenol A (BPA) and other bisphenols constitute a class of organic pollutants, which because of their estrogenic properties, low dose activity and bioaccumulation pose considerable risk for public health as well as for the environment. Accumulated in the sediment bisphenols can endanger the decomposers' populations being incorporated into their cellular membranes; however, the mechanism of their membrane activity is unknown. Therefore, to study these phenomena we applied anionic phospholipid Langmuir monolayers as simple but versatile models of decomposers biomembranes. Phosphatidylglycerols and cardiolipins are not only the main components of bacterial membranes but also of crucial importance in mitochondrial and thylakoid membranes in eukaryotic cells. In our investigations we applied five compounds of the bisphenol class most commonly detected in the environment. To characterize the bisphenols-model membrane interactions we applied multiple mutually independent methods of physical chemistry; namely: the Langmuir monolayer technique, surface potential measurements, Brewster angle microscopy for the visualization of the monolayers' texture and grazing incidence X-ray diffraction for the discussion of the phospholipids packing within the monolayers. Our studies indicated that all the investigated bisphenols interact with the model membrane, but the strength of the interactions is dependent on the bisphenol structure and hydrophobicity and the fluidity of the model membranes. We proved that bisphenol S often treated as the least toxic BPA analog can also be incorporated to the model membranes changing their structure and fluidity.