Structural studies of polymer-cushioned lipid bilayers.

The structure of softly supported polymer-cushioned lipid bilayers, prepared in two different ways at the quartz-solution interface, were determined using neutron reflectometry. The polymer cushion consisted of a thin layer of branched, cationic polyethyleneimine (PEI), and the bilayers were formed by adsorption of small unilamellar dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC) vesicles. When vesicles were first allowed to adsorb to a bare quartz substrate, an almost perfect bilayer formed. When the polymer was then added to the aqueous solution, it appeared to diffuse beneath this bilayer, effectively lifting it from the substrate. In contrast, if the polymer layer is adsorbed first to the bare quartz substrate followed by addition of vesicles to the solution, there is very little interaction of the vesicles with the polymer layer, and the result is a complex structure most likely consisting of patchy multilayers or adsorbed vesicles.     

Monitoring the location profile of fluorophores in phosphatidylcholine bilayers by the use or paramagnetic quenching.

Spin probes differing in the position of their paramagnetic centre are used to quench the fluorescence of pyrene derivatives and chlorophylls incorporated into dimyristoyl phosphatidylcholine membranes. Pyrene butyric acid and pyrene decanoic acid with known orientation relative to the membrane surface are investigated. The quenching efficiency of fatty acid spin probes is dependent on the position of the nitroxide radical group in the fatty acid chain. Using this short range interaction we developed a spectroscopic method to chlorophyll-containing vesicles, we were able to characterize the orientation of the porphyrin ring within the membrane. Moreover, the chlorophyll fluorescence is also quenched by a water-soluble spin label. Therefore the porphyrin ring appears to be orientated in the polar head group region of the lipid layer, but not to be protruding out into the water phase. This conclusion is confirmed by the use of pyrene derivatives. Fluorescence quenching by a water-soluble spin label within the lipid matrix is observed even in the rigid state of the membrane. Fluorescence lifetime measurements suggest the existence of two different quenching mechanisms: (1) a static quenching occurring below the lipid phase transition temperature, and (2) an additional dynamic quenching taking place in the fluid state of the lipid bilayer.     

Orientation of anthracyclines in lipid monolayers and planar asymmetrical bilayers: a surface-enhanced resonance Raman scattering study.

The interaction of anthracyclines (daunorubicin and idarubicin) with monolayers of zwitterionic palmitoyloleoylphosphatidylcholine (POPC) and anionic dipalmitoylphosphatidic acid (POPC-DPPA 80-20 mol%) was studied by surface pressure measurements and compared with previous results obtained with other anthracyclines (pirarubicin and adriamycin). These anthracycline/phospholipid monolayers were next transferred by a Langmuir-Blodgett technique onto planar supports and studied by surface-enhanced resonance Raman scattering (SERRS), which gave information about the orientation of anthracycline in the monolayers. On the whole, the adsorption of anthracyclines in zwitterionic monolayers increases with the anthracycline hydrophobic/hydrophilic balance, which underlines the role of the hydrophobic component of the interaction. On the contrary, the anthracyclines remain adsorbed on the polar headgroups of the phospholipids in the presence of DPPA and form a screen that limits a deeper penetration of other anthracycline molecules. To study by SERRS measurements the crossing of pirarubicin through a phospholipid bilayer used as a membrane model, asymmetrical POPC-DPPA/POPC or POPC/POPC-DPPA bilayers were transferred by the Langmuir-Schäfer method, thanks to a laboratory-built set-up, and put in contact with a pirarubicin aqueous solution. It has been shown that the presence of anionic DPPA in the first monolayer in contact with pirarubicin would limit its crossing. This limiting effet is not observed if the first monolayer is zwitterionic.     

Effects of pH on the kinetics of the interaction between anthracyclines and lipid bilayers

In the present study we have analyzed the kinetics of the initial steps (first 10 seconds) of the interaction between the anthracycline daunomycin (DNM) and artificial lipid vesicles bearing opposite surface charge. The process can be monitored by measuring the fluorescence increase of the drug accompanying its association with the lipid bilayers. The results indicated that DNM consistently interacts to a larger extent with the liposomes having negative surface charge than with those having positive surface charge, suggesting the involvement of electrostatic components in the interaction. In contrast, DNM associates with the vesicles bearing positive surface charge 2 – 3 times faster (in terms of the apparent rate constants describing the process of interaction) than with those having negative surface charge, an observation probably related to the more fluid physical state of the former. Regarding the rate of access of DNM to the vesicles, rather than depending on the surface charge of the vesicles, this is critically affected by the ionization state of the drug, i. e. by the pH. Thus, the rate at which the interaction proceeds is increased nearly 15-fold when the pH of the medium increases from 7.0 to 8.3, regardless of the surface charge of the liposomes. On this basis, and taking into account the fact that the anthracyclines enter the cells by passive diffusion, possible effects of pH on the transport of these drugs through the membranes of tumor cells are discussed. Received: 3 December 1996 / Accepted: 4 July 1997     

Cholestryl-phosphoryl-choline in lipid bilayers.

Cholesteryl-phosphoryl-choline (CPC), a hybrid between cholesterol and lecithin, is incorporated into sonicated liposomes and erythrocyte membranes similarly to cholesterol. The effect of CPC on lipid microviscosity and degree of order is smaller, but not significantly than that of cholesterol. It is proposed that CPC may be employed as an efficient modulator of lipid dynamics.     

Fluorescence quenching in lipid micelles and bilayers: Evaluation of bimolecular rate constants

Dynamic quenching of fluorophores and quenchers in lipid micelles and bilayers can yield information about the bimolecular rate constant for the quenching reaction, and hence information about the microviscosity of the fluorophore-quencher environment. When the fluorophore and quencher have relatively fixed transverse positions in the bilayer, the analysis of Sikaris et al. (Chem. Phys. Lipids. 29 (1981) 23) can be used to separate the microviscosity and proximity contributions to quenching. We now extend this method to show explicitly the effect of static quenching on the analysis. We show by simulation and experiment that a correction factor must be included when static quenching contributes to the observed quenching efficiency.     

Small angle x-ray scattering studies of magnetically oriented lipid bilayers.

Magnetically oriented lipid/detergent bilayers are potentially useful for studies of membrane-associated molecules and complexes using x-ray scattering and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). To establish whether the system is a reasonable model of a phospholipid bilayer, we have studied the system using x-ray solution scattering to determine the bilayer thickness, interparticle spacing, and orientational parameters for magnetically oriented lipid bilayers. The magnetically orientable samples contain the phospholipid L-alpha-dilauroylphosphatidylcholine (DLPC) and the bile salt analog 3-[(3-cholamidopropyl)dimethylammonio]-2-hydroxy-1-propanesulfonate (CHAPSO) in a 3:1 molar ratio in 70% water (w/v) and are similar to magnetically orientable samples used as NMR media for structural studies of membrane-associated molecules. A bilayer thickness of 30 A was determined for the DLPC/CHAPSO particles, which is the same as the bilayer thickness of pure DLPC vesicles, suggesting that the CHAPSO is not greatly perturbing the lipid bilayer. These data, as well as NMR data on molecules incorporated in the oriented lipid particles, are consistent with the sample consisting of reasonably homogeneous and well dispersed lipid particles. Finally, the orientational energy of the sample suggests that the size of the cooperatively orienting unit in the samples is 2 x 10(7) phospholipid molecules.     

Monitoring the location profile of fluorophores in phosphatidylcholine bilayers by the use of paramagnetic quenching

Spin probes differing in the position of their paramagnetic centre are used to quench the fluorescence of pyrene derivatives and chlorophylls incorporated into dimyristoyl phosphatidylcholine membranes. Pyrene butyric acid and pyrene decanoic acid with known orientation relative to the membrane surface are investigated. The quenching efficiency of fatty acid spin probes is dependent on the position of the nitroxide radical group in the fatty acid chain. Using this short fange interaction we developed a spectroscopic method to characterize the molecular arrangement within the lipid membrane. Applied to chlorophyll-containing vesicles, we were able to characterize the orientation of the porphyrin ring within the membrane. Moreover, the chlorophyll fluorescence is also quenched by a water-soluble spin label. Therefore the porphyrin ring appears to be orientated in the polar head group region of the lipid layer, but not to be protruding out into the water phase.This conclusion is confirmed by the use of pyrene derivatives. Fluorescence quenching by a water-soluble spin label within the lipid matrix is observed even in the rigid state of the membrane. Fluorescence lifetime measurements suggest the existence of two different quenching mechanisms: (1) a static quenching occurring below the lipid phase transition temperature, and (2) an additional dynamic quenching taking place in the fluid state of the lipid bilayer.     

NMR studies on phospholipid bilayers. Some factors affecting lipid distribution.

1. 1H-NMR and 31P-NMR are used to measure the outside/inside distribution of phospholipids in mixed vesicles. 2. Ferricyanide is a suitable shift reagent for measuring the outside/inside ratio of lecithin using 1H-NMR even when the phospholipid mixture contains negative lipids. 3. 31P-NMR can be used to measure the distribution of all phospholipids present provided the resonances are separated. 4. At 36.4 MHz the inside and outside phosphorus in lecithin vesicles have different chemical shifts. The separation at room temperature is 4-5 Hz and the individual linewidths are about 4Hz. 5. In a mixture of lecithin with phosphatidylethanolamine the latter has preference for the inside layer of the bilayer. The same holds for mixtures of lecithin with phosphatidylserine, phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidic acid. 6. In mixtures of lecithin and phosphatidylserine the preference of the latter for the inside is increased at lower pH under which conditions the negative charge of the phosphatidylserine is decreased. 7. In mixtures of lecithin with sphingomyelin the lecithin has a higher concentration at the inside. 8. The effect of vesicle size on the 31P-NMR linewidth and the temperature dependence of this linewidth is in agreement with the conclusion of Berden et al. (FEBS Lett. (1974), 46, 55-58) that the chemical shift anisotropy, modulated by the isotropic tumbling of the vesicles, makes a contribution to the linewidth. The chemical shift difference between outside and inside phosphorus can be used as a parameter for the measurement of the packing density at the inside and of the size of the vesicles. 9. It is concluded that both charge and the packing properties of the head group are major factors in determining the distribution of phospholipids in mixed vesicles.     

Helix-helix interactions in lipid bilayers.

Using a continuum model, we calculated the electrostatic interaction free energy between two alpha-helices in three environments: the aqueous phase, a low dielectric alkane phase, and a simple representation of a lipid bilayer. As was found in previous work, helix-helix interactions in the aqueous phase are quite weak, because of solvent screening, and slightly repulsive, because of desolvation effects that accompany helix assembly. In contrast, the interactions can be quite strong in a hypothetical alkane phase because desolvation effects are essentially nonexistent and because helix-helix interactions are not well screened. In this type of environment, the antiparallel helix orientation is strongly favored over the parallel orientation. In previous work we found that the free energy penalty associated with burying helix termini in a bilayer is quite high, which is why the termini tend to protrude into the solvent. Under these conditions the electrostatic interaction is strongly screened by solvent; indeed, it is sufficient for the termini to protrude a few angstroms from the two surfaces of the bilayer for their interaction to diminish almost completely. The effect is consistent with the classical model of the helix dipole in which the dipole moment is represented by point charges located at either terminus. Our results suggest, in agreement with previous models, that there is no significant nonspecific driving force for helix aggregation and, hence, that membrane protein folding must be driven by specific interactions such as close packing and salt-bridge and hydrogen bond formation.     

Energy transfer in lipid bilayers.

The quenching of fluorescence due to energy transfer between a dilute, random array of donor and acceptor chromophores in lipid bilayer was measured and compared to theoretical expressions developed to predict the decrease in emission intensity under these circumstances. The observed intensity was found to be the same function of quencher concentration in both planar, multilamellar dispersions and small, spherical vesicles. The degree of quenching was accurately predicted by a simple relation derived in this paper, as well as a more complex equation previously developed by Tweet, et al. The results suggest that significant quenching may be observed even when the average donor-acceptor separation exceeds the F?rster critical distance by severalfold. Application of these results to problems of current interest in membrane research are discussed.     

Alternating current studies of charge carrier transport in lipid bilayers. Pentachlorophenol in lecithin-cholesterol membranes.

Surface and interior electrical properties of lecithin-cholesterol bilayer membranes treated with the uncoupler pentachlorophenol have been determined on the basis of a.c. measurements over a wide range of frequencies (0.02 to 1000 kHZ). The method used depends on accurately determining the resistance of the aqueous solution in series with each individual membrane by extrapolating admittance data into infinite frequency. Loss tangent vs. frequency curves are corrected by subtracting out a loss contribution which is present in untreated membranes and is due, presumably, to dielectric relaxation. The results, which are useful below 100 kHZ, can be fitted to loss tangent curves computed for a three-element equivalent circuit consisting of frequency independent conductance-capacitance pairs, arranged in series to represent surface and interior properties of membranes. Interior conductances agree with net conductances obtained from d.c. measurements. The pH and concentration dependence of surface conductance is consistent with a scheme of transport in which a fixed number of surface binding sites are filled preferentially with neutral pentachlorophenol molecules, which in turn dissociate to supply protons to the aqueous phase. Surface capacitances range from 15 to 90 times that of interior capacitance and show a systematic increase with pentachlorophenol concentration at high pH, and a decrease with concentration at low pH.     

Estimation of the location of natural alpha-tocopherol in lipid bilayers by 13C-NMR spectroscopy

Natural, 2R,4R',8R'-alpha-tocopherol (vitamin E), labelled selectively with 13C in the methyl group at position 5, was incorporated into unilamellar vesicles of egg phosphatidylcholine. The vesicles are impermeable to the shift reagent Pr3+ and, in the presence of this reagent, separate 13C resonances due to labelled alpha-tocopherol in the outer and inner monolayers could be observed with relative intensities, 2:1. Subsequent addition of the relaxation reagent Gd2+ causes broadening and greatly shortened spin-lattice relaxation times for the resonance due to alpha-tocopherol in the outer monolayer only. These data confirm that alpha-tocopherol is located in both halves of the bilayers with its more hydrophilic chroman moiety very near the lipid-water interface, and indicate that the methyl group at position 5 of the alpha-tocopherol in the inner monolayer must be at least 40 A from the aqueous interface of the outer monolayer.     

Dynamic fluorescence quenching studies on lipid mobilities in phosphatidylcholine-cholesterol membranes

Bimolecular collision rate of 8-anilinonaphthalene-1-sulfonic acid (ANS) and the nitroxide doxyl group attached to various carbons on stearic acid spin labels (n-SASL) in phosphatidylcholine-cholesterol membranes in the fluid phase was studied by observing dynamic quenching of ANS fluorescence by n-SASL's. The excited-state lifetime of ANS and its reduction by the n-SASL doxyl group were directly measured by the time-correlated single photon counting technique to observe only dynamic quenching separately from static quenching and were analyzed by using Stern-Volmer relations. The collision rate of ANS with the n-SASL doxyl group ranges between 1 X 10(7) and 6 X 10(7), and the extent of dynamic quenching by n-SASL is in the order of 5-much much greater than 6- greater than 7- less than 9- less than 10- less than 12- less than 16-SASL (less than 5-SASL) in dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC) membranes. Collision rate of 16-SASL is only 10% less than that of 5-SASL. Since the naphthalene ring of ANS is located in the near-surface region of the membrane, these results indicate that the methyl terminal of SASL appears in the near surface area frequently, probably due to extensive gauche-trans isomerism of the methylene chain. The presence of 30 mol% cholesterol decreases the collision rate of ANS with 12- and 16-SASL doxyl groups but not with the 5-SASL doxyl group in DMPC membranes. On the other hand, in egg-yolk phosphatidylcholine membranes, inclusion of 30 mol% cholesterol does not affect the collision of ANS with either 5-SASL or 16-SASL doxyl groups, in agreement with our previous observation that alkyl chain unsaturation moderates cholesterol effects on lipid motion in the membrane (Kusumi et al., Biochim. Biophys. Acta 854, 307-317). It is suggested that dynamic quenching of ANS fluorescence by lipid-type spin labels is a useful new monitor of membrane fluidity that reports on various lipid mobilities in the membrane; a class of motion can be preferentially observed over others by selecting a proper spin label, i.e., rotational diffusion of lipid about its long axis and translational diffusion by using 5-SASL, wobbling motion of the lipid long axis by using 7-SASL or androstane spin label, and gauche-trans isomerism by using 16-SASL.     

Monte Carlo studies of the hydrocarbon region of lipid bilayers

We present the results of a Monte Carlo study of systems of hydrocarbon chains attached to a plane interface and interacting through hard core repulsive forces only. The chain-order parameters which we find in our studies are compared to experimental results (NMR and ESR). The role of “kink” states and the relevance of our studies to theoretical models are also discussed.     

Transverse nuclear spin relaxation in phosphatidylcholine bilayers containing gramicidin.

Deuterium nuclear magnetic resonance has been used to study transverse relaxation in samples of 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine, perdeuterated and specifically deuterated at the alpha position of the chains, containing the polypeptide gramicidin at concentrations of 0, 1, and 4 mol%. For 4 mol% gramicidin, the bilayer is thought to undergo a continuous phase change rather than a phase transition proceeding via two phase coexistence. Information is obtained regarding lipid dynamics in the continuous phase change region of the phase diagram. In the presence of gramicidin, the transverse relaxation time measured by the quadrupole echo technique, T2e, passes through a minimum in the gel phase. The gramicidin concentration dependence of T2e suggests that the polypeptide reduces the temperature sensitivity of the correlation time responsible for the minimum. The polypeptide also increases the sensitivity of the first spectral moment, M1, to the quadrupole echo pulse separation. This behavior is attributed to a polypeptide-induced enhancement of the spread in T2e along the acyl chains. Quadrupole Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill experiments are used to separate contributions to the observed behavior from fast and slow motions.     

Protein lateral movement in lipid bilayers. Stimulation studies of its dependence upon protein concentration

A number of mechanisms have been proposed to account for the decrease in protein lateral diffusion coefficients in a lipid bilayer membrane, as the concentration of proteins is increased. One such mechanism is the steric hindrance (via, say, a hard-core repulsion) to the lateral movement of a protein due to the proximity of other proteins. Here a model is presented to study this effect alone. It is argued that the model will overestimate the effect being studied. The results of computer simulations show that such a mechanism will decrease the lateral diffusion coefficient by less than a factor of 20 below the zero-concentration limit, even when up to 81.7% of the bilayer surface is composed of integral proteins. This result supports the opinion (Kell, D.B. (1984) Trends Biochem. Sci. 9, 379) that such a mechanism cannot account for a decrease in the lateral diffusion coefficient by two or three orders of magnitude.