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Tethered Bilayer Lipid Membranes to Monitor Heat Transfer between Gold Nanoparticles and Lipid Membranes
Published on: December 8, 2020
Phospholipid Bilayer Softening Due to Hydrophobic Gold Nanoparticle Inclusions
Saptarshi Chakraborty1, Akram Abbasi2, Geoffrey D Bothun2
1Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering , Clemson University , Clemson , South Carolina 29634 , United States.
Abstract:
Liposome-nanoparticle assemblies (LNAs) are vital in the context of novel targeted drug-delivery systems, in addition to investigating nanoparticle-lipid bilayer interactions. Quantifying membrane structural properties and dynamics in presence of nanoparticle inclusions provides a simple model to elucidate nanoparticle effects on membrane biophysical properties. We present experimental evidences of bilayer softening due to small hydrophobic gold nanoparticle inclusions. LNA structure has been investigated by a combination of cryo-transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, and small-angle neutron scattering. Neutron spin echo spectroscopy demonstrated a remarkable ∼15% bending modulus decrease for LNAs relative to pure liposomes. Clear dependence of bending modulus on gold nanoparticle diameter and concentration was observed from our observations. Our findings point toward local bilayer fluidization by nanoparticle inclusions leading to an overall bilayer softening. These findings add valuable information to liposomal drug-delivery vehicle design and membrane biophysics research.
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