title: Fusion induced aggregation of model vesicles studied by dynamic and static light scattering.
abstract: Membrane fusion is a key step in the virus mediated cell fusion. The vesicular dispersion serves as a model system to study the membrane fusion. We employed dynamic and static light scattering to study the fusion of phosphatidylcholine vesicles in the presence of model fusion peptide fragments from the hemagglutinin HA2 protein. The fusion-induced aggregation under the present experimental setup exhibited strong pH dependence, similar to the parental viral protein. Replacement of the glycine residue at the extreme amino terminus by glutamic acid (G1E) abolished fusion activity. The average molecular mass and diameter of vesicular dispersion obtained from static and dynamic light scattering measurements respectively at neutral and acidic pH showed about three fold increase in acidic solution containing wild type fusion peptide. The light scattering data are consistent with lipid mixing results. The present work demonstrates the utility of light scattering as a facile means to monitor the fusion process.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taipei 115, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: V D
authors.initials: VD
authors.lastname: Trivedi
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Veeramuthu
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Francis
authors.forename: D K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Chang
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000821:virology; D019267:Hemagglutinin Glycoproteins, Influenza Virus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D008027:Light; D008561:Membrane Fusion; D008954:Models, Biological; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009975:Orthomyxoviridae / Q000502:physiology; D012542:Scattering, Radiation
chemical_list: D019267:Hemagglutinin Glycoproteins, Influenza Virus