The Contribution of Differential Scanning Calorimetry for the Study of Peptide/Lipid Interactions

Membrane-active peptides include a variety of molecules such as antimicrobial (AMP), cell-penetrating (CPP), viral, and amyloid peptides that are implicated in several pathologies. They constitute important targets because they are either at the basis of novel therapies (drug delivery for CPPs or antimicrobial activity for AMPs) or they are the agents causing these pathologies (viral and amyloid peptides). They all share the common property of interacting with the cellular lipid membrane in their mode of action. Therefore, a better understanding of the peptide/lipid (P/L) interaction is essential to help decipher their mechanism of action. Among the different biophysical methods that can be used to fully characterize P/L interactions, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) allows determining the peptide effect on the lipid phase transitions, a property that reflects the P/L interaction mode. A general protocol for classical DSC experiments for P/L studies will be provided.