The interaction of adriamycin with small unilamellar vesicle liposomes. A fluorescence study

The interaction of the antineoplastic agent adriamycin with sonicated liposomes composed of phosphatidylcholine alone and with small amounts (1-6%) of cardiolipin has been studied by fluorescence techniques. Equilibrium binding data show that the presence of cardiolipin increases the amount of drug bound to liposomes when the bilayer is below its phase transition temperature and when the ionic strength is relatively low (0.01 M). At higher ionic strength (0.15 M) and above the Tm (i.e. conditions which are closer to the physiological state) the binding of the drug to the two liposome types is nearly the same. Thus the differences in the interactions of adriamycin with cardiolipin-containing membranes, as opposed to those composed of phosphatidylcholine alone, are not due simply to increased binding but rather to an altered membrane structure when this lipid is present. Quenching of adriamycin fluorescence by iodide shows that bound drug is partially, but not completely, buried in the liposomal membrane. Both in the presence and absence of cardiolipin the bulk of the adriamycin is more accessible to the quencher below the Tm than above it; that is, a solid membrane tends to exclude the drug from deep penetration. Above the Tm, the presence of cardiolipin alters the nature of liposome-adriamycin interaction. Here the fluorescence quenching data suggest that the presence of small amounts of cardiolipin (3%) in a phosphatidylcholine matrix creates two types of binding environments for drug, one relatively exposed and the other more deeply buried in the membrane. The temperature dependence of the adriamycin fluorescence and the liposome light scattering reveal that cardiolipin alters the thermal properties of the bilayer as well as its interaction with adriamycin. At low ionic strength lateral phase separations may occur with both pure phosphatidylcholine and when 3% cardiolipin is present; under these conditions the bound adriamycin exists in two kinds of environment. It is notable that only adriamycin fluorescence reveals this phenomenon; thebulk property of liposome light scattering reports only on the overall membrane phase change. These data suggest that under certain conditions the drug binding sites in the membranes are decoupled from the bulk of the lipid bilayer.     

New BODIPY lipid probes for fluorescence studies of membranes

Many fluorescent lipid probes tend to loop back to the membrane interface when attached to a lipid acyl chain rather than embedding deeply into the bilayer. To achieve maximum embedding of BODIPY (4,4-difluoro-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene) fluorophore into the bilayer apolar region, a series of sn-2 acyl-labeled phosphatidylcholines was synthesized bearing 4,4-difluoro-1,3,5,7-tetramethyl-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene-8-yl (Me(4)-BODIPY-8) at the end of C(3)-, C(5)-, C(7)-, or C(9)-acyl. A strategy was used of symmetrically dispersing the methyl groups at BODIPY ring positions 1, 3, 5, and 7 to decrease fluorophore polarity. Iodide quenching of the phosphatidylcholine probes in bilayer vesicles confirmed that the Me(4)-BODIPY-8 fluorophore was embedded in the bilayer. Parallax analysis of Me(4)-BODIPY-8 fluorescence quenching by phosphatidylcholines containing iodide at different positions along the sn-2 acyl chain indicated that the penetration depth of Me(4)-BODIPY-8 into the bilayer was determined by the length of the linking acyl chain. Evaluation using monolayers showed minimal perturbation of <10 mol% probe in fluid-phase and cholesterol-enriched phosphatidylcholine. Spectral characterization in monolayers and bilayers confirmed the retention of many features of other BODIPY derivatives (i.e., absorption and emission wavelength maxima near 498 nm and approximately 506-515 nm) but also showed the absence of the 620-630 nm peak associated with BODIPY dimer fluorescence and the presence of a 570 nm emission shoulder at high Me(4)-BODIPY-8 surface concentrations. We conclude that the new probes should have versatile utility in membrane studies, especially when precise location of the reporter group is needed.     

Organization and dynamics of pyrene and pyrene lipids in intact lipid bilayers. Photo-induced charge transfer processes.

The dynamics of fluorescence quenching and the organization of a series of pyrene derivatives anchored in various depths in bilayers of phosphatidylcholine small unilamellar vesicles was studied and compared with their behavior in homogeneous solvent systems. The studies include characterization of the environmental polarity of the pyrene fluorophore based on its vibronic peaks, as well as the interaction with three collisional quenchers: the two membrane-soluble quenchers, diethylaniline and bromobenzene, and the water soluble quencher potassium iodide. The system of diethylaniline-pyrene derivatives in the membrane of phosphatidylcholine vesicles was characterized in detail. The diethylaniline partition coefficient between the lipid bilayers and the buffer is approximately 5,800. Up to a diethylaniline/phospholipid mole ratio of 1:3 the perturbation to membrane structure is minimal so that all photophysical studies were performed below this mole ratio. The quenching reaction, in all cases, was shown to take place in the lipid bilayer interior and the relative quenching efficiencies of the various probe molecules was used to provide information on the distribution of both fluorescent probes and quencher molecules in the lipid bilayer. The quenching efficiency by diethylaniline in the lipid bilayer was found to be essentially independent on the length of the methylene chain of the pyrene moiety. These findings suggest that the quenching process, being a diffusion controlled reaction, is determined by the mobility of the diethylaniline quencher (with an effective diffusion coefficient D approximately 10(-7) cm2 s-1) which appears to be homogeneously distributed throughout the lipid bilayer. The pulsed laser photolysis products of the charge-transfer quenching reaction were examined. No exciplex (excited-complex) formation was observed and the yield of the separated radical ions was shown to be tenfold smaller than in homogenous polar solutions. The decay of the radical ions is considerably faster than the corresponding process in homogenous solutions. Relatively high intersystem crossing yields are observed. The results are explained on the basis of the intrinsic properties of a lipid bilayer, primarily, its rigid spatial organization. It is suggested that such properties favor ion-pair formation over exciplex generation. They also enhance primary geminate recombination of initially formed (solvent-shared) ion pairs. Triplet states are generated via secondary geminate recombination of ion pairs in the membrane interior. The results bear on the general mechanism of electron transfer processes in biomembranes.     

Effects of chlorpromazine HCl on the structural parameters of bovine brain membranes

Fluorescence probes located in different membrane regions were used to evaluate the effects of chlorpromazine .HCl on structural parameters (transbilayer lateral mobility, annular lipid fluidity, protein distribution, and lipid bilayer thickness) of synaptosomal plasma membrane vesicles (SPMVs) isolated from bovine cerebral cortex. The experimental procedure was based on the selective quenching of 1,3-di(1-pyrenyl)propane (Py-3-Py) by trinitrophenyl groups, radiationless energy transfer from the tryptophan of membrane proteins to Py-3-Py, and energy transfer from Py-3-Py monomers to 1-anilinonaphthalene-8-sulfonic acid (ANS). In this study, chlorpromazine .HCl decreased the lateral mobility of Py-3-Py in a concentration dependent-manner, showed a greater ordering effect on the inner monolayer than on the outer monolayer, decreased annular lipid fluidity in a dose dependent-manner, and contracted the membrane lipid bilayer. Furthermore, the drug was found to have a clustering effect on membrane proteins.     

Effect of bilayer membrane curvature on activity of phosphatidylcholine exchange protein

Effect of bilayer membrane curvature of substrate phosphatidylcholine and inhibitor phosphatidylserine on the activity of phosphatidylcholine exchange protein has been studied by measuring transfer of spin-labeled phosphatidylcholine between vesicles, vesicles and liposomes, and between liposomes. The transfer rate between vesicles was more than 100 times larger than that between vesicles and liposomes. The transfer rate between liposomes was still smaller than that between vesicles and liposomes and nearly the same as that in the absence of exchange protein. The markedly enhanced exchange with vesicles was ascribed to the asymmetric packing of phospholipid molecules in the outer layer of the highly curved bilayer membrane. The inhibitory effect of phosphatidylserine was also greatly dependent on the membrane curvature. The vesicles with diameter of 17 nm showed more than 20 times larger inhibitory activity than those with diameter of 22 nm. The inhibitory effect of liposomes was very small. The size dependence was ascribed to stronger binding of the exchange protein to membranes with higher curvatures. The protein-mediated transfer from vesicles to spiculated erythrocyte ghosts was about four times faster than that to cup-shaped ghosts. This was ascribed to enhanced transfer to the highly curved spiculated membrane sites rather than greater mobility of phosphatidylcholine in the spiculated ghost membrane.     

DNA-containing liposomes as a model for the study of cell membrane permeation by anthracycline derivatives

The uptake of anthracycline derivatives into large unilamellar vesicles (LUV) in response to a driven force provided by DNA encapsulated inside the LUV has been investigated. Four anthracyclines have been used: adriamycin, 4'-O-tetrahydropyranyladriamycin (THP-ADR), daunorubicin (DNR), and carminomycin. No quenching of the drug fluorescence is observed through interaction of the drugs with the lipidic bilayer. Rapid quenching of drug fluorescence occurs when drugs intercalate between the base pairs of DNA. The kinetics of the decay of anthracycline fluorescence in the presence of DNA-containing liposomes can thus be used to follow the diffusion of the drug through the membrane. The initial rates of uptake, as a function of pH, and lipid bilayer permeability coefficients have been calculated for the neutral forms of THP-ADR and DNR. This system suggests that anthracycline may gain access to cells by passive diffusion of the neutral form of the drug under the action of a driven force provided by DNA in the nucleus.     

Partitioning of 2,6-Bis(1H-Benzimidazol-2-yl)pyridine fluorophore into a phospholipid bilayer: complementary use of fluorescence quenching studies and molecular dynamics simulations

Successful use of fluorescence sensing in elucidating the biophysical properties of lipid membranes requires knowledge of the distribution and location of an emitting molecule in the bilayer. We report here that 2,6-bis(1H-benzimidazol-2-yl)pyridine (BBP), which is almost non-fluorescent in aqueous solutions, reveals a strong emission enhancement in a hydrophobic environment of a phospholipid bilayer, making it interesting for fluorescence probing of water content in a lipid membrane. Comparing the fluorescence behavior of BBP in a wide variety of solvents with those in phospholipid vesicles, we suggest that the hydrogen bonding interactions between a BBP fluorophore and water molecules play a crucial role in the observed “light switch effect”. Therefore, the loss of water-induced fluorescence quenching inside a membrane are thought to be due to deep penetration of BBP into the hydrophobic, water-free region of a bilayer. Characterized by strong quenching by transition metal ions in solution, BBP also demonstrated significant shielding from the action of the quencher in the presence of phospholipid vesicles. We used the increase in fluorescence intensity, measured upon titration of probe molecules with lipid vesicles, to estimate the partition constant and the Gibbs free energy (ΔG) of transfer of BBP from aqueous buffer into a membrane. Partitioning BBP revealed strongly favorable ΔG, which depends only slightly on the lipid composition of a bilayer, varying in a range from − 6.5 to − 7.0 kcal/mol. To elucidate the binding interactions of the probe with a membrane on the molecular level, a distribution and favorable location of BBP in a POPC bilayer were modeled via atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulations using two different approaches: (i) free, diffusion-driven partitioning of the probe molecules into a bilayer and (ii) constrained umbrella sampling of a penetration profile of the dye molecule across a bilayer. Both of these MD approaches agreed with regard to the preferred location of a BBP fluorophore within the interfacial region of a bilayer, located between the hydrocarbon acyl tails and the initial portion of the lipid headgroups. MD simulations also revealed restricted permeability of water molecules into this region of a POPC bilayer, determining the strong fluorescence enhancement observed experimentally for the membrane-partitioned form of BBP.     

Fluorescence studies on a membrane-embedded peptide from the carboxy terminus of lipophilin

Fluorescence of an intramembranous polypeptide (T-3) derived from the carboxy-terminal sequence of lipophilin was studied in aqueous solution, detergent micelles, and lipid vesicles. In all cases, the fluorescence of the only Trp (211) was indicative of a hydrophobic, buried residue. Addition of lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) or phosphatidylcholine (PC) gave Trp-211 a more hydrophobic, less quenching environment as compared to that in aqueous solution. Energy transfer between Trp and Tyr observed in aqueous solution was decreased by the addition of lipid or detergent. There was limited quenching by acrylamide both in the aqueous and in the lipid or detergent environments. However, PC or LPC further decreased this quenching. Cs+ and I- were even less accessible than acrylamide to Trp, further proving that the Trp was located inside the lipid bilayer. The quenching indicated that I- binds to positive charges of the protein located on the surface of the membrane. This, combined with knowledge of the sequence of lipophilin, suggested that Trp-211 was located within the membrane but was close to amino acid residues that are external to the bilayer.     

Preferential lipid association and mode of penetration of apocytochrome c in mixed model membranes as monitored by tryptophanyl fluorescence quenching using brominated phospholipids

The fluorescence of the single tryptophan residue at position 59 in apocytochrome c, the biosynthetic precursor of the inner mitochondrial membrane protein cytochrome c, was studied in small unilamellar vesicles composed of phosphatidylserine (PS) and phosphatidylcholine (PC) with or without specifically Br-labelled acyl chains at the sn-2 position. The protein has a very high affinity for PS-containing vesicles (dissociation constant Kd less than 1 microM). From the relative quenching efficiency by the brominated phospholipids, it could be concluded that the protein specifically associates with the PS component in mixed vesicles and that maximal quenching occurred with phospholipids in which the bromine was present at the 6,7-position of the 2-acyl chain suggesting that (part of) the bound protein penetrates 7-8 A deep into the hydrophobic core of the bilayer.     

Interaction and fusion of unilamellar vesicles containing cerebrosides and sulfatides induced by myelin basic protein

The effects of myelin basic protein on the aggregation, lipid bilayer merging, intercommunication of aqueous compartments and leakage of small unilamellar vesicles of egg phosphatidylcholine containing different proportions of galactocerebroside and sulfatide were investigated. This was performed employing light scattering, absorbance changes and fluorescence assays (resonance energy transfer, Terbium/dipicolinic acid assay and carboxyfluorescein release). The apposition of membranes rapidly induced by myelin basic protein is enhanced by sulfatide but reduced by galactocerebroside compared to vesicles of egg phosphatidylcholine alone. On the other hand, the presence of either glycosphingolipid in the membrane interferes with the induction by myelin basic protein of lipid bilayer merging, subsequent fusion and changes of the membrane permeability. Our results support an important modulation by sulfatide and galactocerebroside on the interactions among membranes induced by myelin basic protein, depending on the relative proportions of the glycosphingolipids and phosphatidylcholine.     

Interaction of propranolol with model phospholipid membranes. Monolayer, spin label and fluorescent spectroscopy studies

The interaction of propranolol with model phospholipid membranes was studied using various experimental techniques. The partition coefficient of propranolol in the negatively charged membranes of vesicles prepared from phosphatidylserine and phosphatidic acid was found to be more than 20-times higher than in neutral phosphatidylcholine membranes. Preferential interaction of propranolol with acidic phospholipid membranes was confirmed using the monolayer compression isotherm technique and the spin-labelling method. Phosphatidylserine monolayers were markedly expanded even at a relatively low drug concentration (5 . 10(-6) M). In contrast, the effect of propranolol on phosphatidylcholine monolayers was much smaller, being detectable only at a higher concentration of the drug (1 . 10(-4) M). Spin-labeling experiments show that propranolol exerts marked ordering effect on bilayers prepared from acidic phospholipids and does not change the order parameter of phosphatidylcholine membranes. The dependence of the propranolol fluorescence spectrum on the polarity of the solvent allowed us to identify the intercalation region of the drug in the membrane. The fluorophore moiety of propranolol was found to be localized in the lipid polar head groups region of the bilayer. The role of electrostatic and hydrophobic effects in propranolol-membrane interaction is discussed and the effect of propranolol on the ordering of phospholipid bilayers is compared with the effects of other anesthetic-like molecules.     

The susceptibility of membrane vesicles to interaction with ethanol

The susceptibility of membranes to interaction with ethanol is an important consideration in the further understanding of the ethanol-membrane interaction. Interaction of membrane vesicles, including passive diffusion of ethanol across membranes, leakage of internal molecules out of membranes and membrane-membrane interaction, were examined systematically using two populations of fluorescent probe-encapsulated phospholipid bilayer vesicles, each prepared with 1,2-dimyristoyl phosphatidylcholine, cholesterol and a fluorescent probe. Fluorescence quenching experiments with these vesicles were performed in a medium containing a wide range of ethanol concentrations (0.30-3.5 M). In the presence of a lower concentration of ethanol in the external medium, passive diffusion of ethanol across membrane vesicles occurred. This was demonstrated by an interaction of ethanol with the encapsulated fluorescence probe molecules inside the vesicles, resulting in an increase in the fluorescence intensity and a shift of the fluorescence emission spectrum to a shorter wavelength. While, in the presence of a higher concentration of ethanol in the external medium, a strong perturbation of lipid bilayers by ethanol was found, leading to an over expansion of membranes and consequently causing the membrane leakage. As a result of this, the initially encapsulated probe molecules leaked out of the vesicles so as to interact with the other probe molecules in the external medium. Consequently, fluorescence quenching was observed. Moreover, studies of the mixture of two populations of fluorescence probe-encapsulated membrane vesicles revealed that ethanol acted on individual membranes and did not promote membrane-membrane interactions. The implication of the present results to the alcohol-mediated expansion of membranes is discussed.     

Transverse location of anthracyclines in lipid bilayers. Paramagnetic quenching studies

Quenching of anthracycline fluorescence by a series of spin-labeled fatty acids was used to probe the transverse location of the drug in phosphatidylcholine bilayers in the form of small unilamellar vesicles. Stern-Volmer plots of the quenching data indicate that the fluorophore moiety of the anthracycline is intercalated into the hydrocarbon region of the bilayer, with deeper penetration observed in fluid-phase than in solid-phase vesicles. 31P-NMR parameters (T1 and nuclear Overhauser enhancement (NOE] are unaffected by the presence of drug, consistent with a binding site removed from the interfacial region. Comparison of intensity (F0/F) plots with lifetime (tau 0/tau) data shows that the predominant mechanism of anthracycline quenching by membrane-bound nitroxides is static. Since the membrane-bound drug is also accessible to quenching by I-, the binding site in the membrane must create a channel which is accessible to solvent. Two other fluorescent probes, 12-(9-anthroyloxy)stearate (12-AS) and diphenylhexatriene (DPH), were employed to confirm the results obtained with the anthracyclines, giving quenching data representative of their location in the bilayer.     

The use of cobalt ions as a collisional quencher to probe surface charge and stability of fluorescently labeled bilayer vesicles

Co2+ quenched the fluorescence of the lipid probes NBD-phosphatidylethanolamine (NBD-PE) and lissamine-rhodamine phosphatidylethanolamine (N-Rh-PE) incorporated into lipid vesicles, according to a collisional quenching mechanism in agreement with the Stern-Vollmer law. The quenching coefficient (Q) for NBD-PE, incorporated into uncharged phosphatidylcholine (PC) vesicles was 13.8 M-1. This value was equal to the quenching coefficient of water-soluble NBD-taurine in aqueous solution, indicating that Co2+ was readily accessible to the outer surface of PC vesicles. In phosphatidylserine-phosphatidylethanolamine (PS-PE) (1:1) vesicles, quenching was also proportional to Co2+ concentration but Q was 114 mM-1, some 8000-fold smaller. Using the Gouy-Chapman-Stern model we demonstrated that the surface density of Co2+ bound to lipid was linear with Co2+ concentration in the medium up to 7%. Co2+-associated phospholipid would in turn quench NBD-PE or N-Rh-PE by collisional quenching with lateral diffusion. We investigated the ability of Co2+ to permeate PS-PE (1:1) vesicles. Co2+ quenched fluorophores on the outer surface of large unilamellar vesicles, formed by reverse-phase evaporation. In small unilamellar vesicles Co2+ quenched probes on both outer and inner surfaces, indicating rapid permeation of the ions into the vesicles. Using stopped-flow rapid mixing, we measured the rate of influx of Co2+, and correcting for surface potential using the Gouy-Chapman-Stern model, we calculated a permeability coefficient of 10(-12) cm/s for Co2+ concentrations below 300 microM. Above this concentration, there was a very steep rise in the permeability coefficient, indicating that binding of Co2+ induces defects in the bilayer of these vesicles. This may be related to the ability of the vesicles to undergo membrane fusion. A method for calculating the membrane surface potential from Co2+ quenching data is presented.     

Mechanism of acridine orange interaction with phospholipids and proteins in renal microvillus vesicles

The mechanism of interaction of acridine orange (AO), a fluorescent, weak base, with rabbit kidney brush border membrane vesicles (BBMV) has been studied by absorption, and steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy. Equilibrium binding experiments indicate that AO binds to an apparent single class of sites on BBMV with a dissociation constant of 90 microM and site stoichiometry of 810 nmol/mg protein. The absorption spectra AO indicate that BBMV induces aggregation of AO; experiments with lipid vesicles show that the aggregation requires BBMV membrane proteins. Fluorescence stopped-flow experiments in which 0.15 mg/ml BBMV is mixed with increasing concentrations of AO result in a time course of fluorescence enhancement for [AO] less than 1.5 microM, and of fluorescence quenching for [AO] greater than 1.5 microM. Similar stopped-flow experiments with phosphatidylcholine lipid vesicles result only in a fluorescence enhancement time course. These results indicate the presence of two parallel pathways for AO binding to BBMV: one for AO binding to BBMV lipid, the other for AO binding to BBMV protein. Nanosecond lifetime measurements and fluorescence titration experiments confirm the presence of two environments for AO in BBMV. Fluorescence stopped-flow experiments indicate that AO responds to the imposition of an outwardly directed proton gradient by a rapid (less than 0.5 s) decrease in fluorescence, corresponding to re-equilibration of AO into the acidic intravesicular compartment, followed by an increase in fluorescence, corresponding to proton flux across the membrane. These findings have been incorporated into a stepwise mechanism for AO interaction with BBMV which have direct implications for the use of AO as a pH indicator in biological systems.     

Fluorescent detection of lipopolysaccharide interactions with model membranes

We have modeled the initial interaction of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (endotoxin) with mammalian cells as consisting of two steps. The first step, adherence, we have previously shown to be ionic in nature and contains the necessary elements to determine the observed cell specificity of lipopolysaccharide interactions. The second step, coalescence, is the hypothetical insertion of the Lipid A component of lipopolysaccharide into the cell membrane lipid bilayer. Using small, unilamellar vesicles composed of phosphatidylcholine to model the cell membrane lipid bilayer, we found that lipopolysaccharide interacted with these vesicles to change the fluidity of the lipid bilayer, as measured by an increase in the fluorescence anisotropy of diphenylhexatriene in the vesicles. Since this increase in diphenylhexatriene anisotropy could not be attributed to a transfer of diphenylhexatriene between non-interacting lipopolysaccharide aggregates and vesicles, we concluded that the lipopolysaccharide aggregate coalesced with the lipid bilayer.     

Interaction of negatively charged liposomes with nuclear membranes: adsorption, lipid mixing and lysis of the vesicles

Fluorescence energy transfer studies reveal that negatively charged lipid vesicles interact with nuclei from mouse liver cells. This interaction was observed with charged lipid vesicles composed of PA or PS but not with the uncharged PC or PE:PC vesicles. The vesicles were prepared by bath sonication and contained either a fluorescent marker in the lipid bilayer or in the vesicular interior. The negatively charged vesicles showed an adsorption to the nuclear membrane visible by fluorescence microscopy. The results obtained by resonance energy transfer experiments are interpreted in terms of a mixing of the lipids from the vesicles with the nuclear membrane. Encapsulation studies documented a staining of the nuclei only if the dye molecules of high or low molecular weight were encapsulated inside negatively charged vesicles. As consequence of the vesicle-nuclei interaction morphological changes on the nuclear surface became visible.     

Transverse distribution of alpha-tocopherol in bilayer membranes studied by fluorescence quenching

The fluorescence properties of alpha-tocopherol in a range of solvents and in micelles and membrane vesicles have been measured. In solvents the fluorescence decay was fitted by a single exponential. In bilayer membranes of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine or egg phosphatidylcholine the fluorescence decay was more accurately fitted as a double exponential. This may indicate that alpha-tocopherol occupies two or more sites in such membranes. Depth-dependent quenching of alpha-tocopherol fluorescence by acrylamide and some doxyl stearates has also been studied. The results confirm that in gel-phase lipid the chromanol group has a transverse distribution close to the head-group region of the lipid. In fluid phase lipid in the presence of buffer the results indicate there is more penetration of the chromanol group into the bilayer.     

Properties of a self-assembled phospholipid membrane supported on lipobeads

The overall objective of our work was to make a hydrogel-supported phospholipid bilayer that models a cytoskeleton-supported cell membrane and provides a platform for studying membrane biology. Previously, we demonstrated that a pre-Lipobead, consisting of phospholipids covalently attached to the surface of a hydrogel, could give rise to a Lipobead when incubated with liposomes because the attached phospholipids promote self-assembly of a phospholipid membrane on the pre-Lipobead. We now report the properties of that Lipobead membrane. The lateral diffusion coefficient of fluorescently labeled phosphatidylcholine analogs in the membrane was measured by fluorescence recovery after photobleaching and was found to decrease as the surface anchor density and hydrogel crosslinking density increased. Results from the quenching of phosphatidylcholine analogs suggest that the phospholipid membrane of the Lipobead was composed mostly of a semipermeable lipid bilayer. However, the diffusional barrier properties of the Lipobead membrane were demonstrated by the entrapment of 1.5-3.0 K dextran molecules in the hydrogel core after liposome fusion. This hydrogel-supported bilayer membrane preparation shows promise as a new platform for studying membrane biology and for high throughput drug screening.     

Incorporation of highly purified melittin into phosphatidylcholine bilayer vesicles

Melittin free of phospholipase A2 was prepared. In the absence of salt this highly pure protein starts to aggregate in solution at a protein concentration of Cp greater than 10(-3) M. In high salt solution (2 M) aggregation starts at Cp greater than 10(-6) M. This was determined from the blue shift of the intrinsic fluorescence of the protein. Reinvestigation of the quenching behaviour clearly shows that self-aggregation cannot be deduced from quenching experiments using nitrate or 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl as quencher. The incorporation of melittin into phosphatidylcholine bilayer vesicles was studied by fluorescence quenching and by energy-transfer experiments using 2- and 6-anthroyloxypalmitic acid as acceptor and peptide tryptophan as donor. Incorporation of melittin into small unilamellar vesicles was found to be reduced below the lipid phase transition temperature, Tt, whereas it incorporates and distributes more randomly above Tt. Cooling the temperature below Tt after incubation at T greater than Tt leads to a deeper incorporation of the peptide into the lipid bilayer due to electrostatic interaction between the lipid phosphate groups and the positively charged amino acids. This stabilizing effect is lost above Tt and melittin is extruded to the polar phase. Quenching experiments support this finding. EPR measurements clearly demonstrate that even in the presence of high amounts of melittin up to 10 mol% with respect to the lipid broadening of the phase transition curves was only observed with fatty acid spin labels, where the doxyl group is localized near the bilayer surface. The order degree of the inner part of the bilayer remains almost unchanged even in the presence of high melittin content.