Absence of ethanol-induced interdigitation in supported phospholipid bilayers on silica surfaces.
Membranes prepared by the adsorption of phospholipid vesicles on solid supports are much-used model systems in biomedical research. However, there is accumulating evidence that such membranes may not always be equivalent to the free-standing cellular membranes that they are modeling. In the present study, sonicated DOPC/DOPS (80/20 mol %) vesicles were adsorbed on hydrophilic silica surfaces, a system that has been demonstrated to produce confluent bilayers. In addition, pure DOPC and DLPC membranes were studied. It is demonstrated that ethanol-induced membrane interdigitation, as demonstrated for free-standing bilayers, does not occur in these supported membranes.
J. Heyrovsky Institute of Physical Chemistry v.v.i., Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Dolejskova 3, Prague, Czech Republic.
Adam
A
Miszta
Bas
B
van Deursen
Roy
R
Schoufs
Martin
M
Hof
Wim Th
WT
Hermens
D000327:Adsorption; D000431:Ethanol / Q000737:chemistry*; D008051:Lipid Bilayers / Q000737:chemistry*; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D010743:Phospholipids / Q000737:chemistry*; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry*; D013499:Surface Properties; D013696:Temperature; D013997:Time Factors
D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D010743:Phospholipids; D000431:Ethanol; D012822:Silicon Dioxide