title: Softening of POPC membranes by magainin.
abstract: Magainin 2 belongs to the family of peptides, which interacts with the lipid membranes. The present work deals with the effect of this peptide on the mechanical properties of 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycerol-3-phosphocholine Giant Unilamellar Vesicle, characterized by the bending stiffness modulus. The bending elastic modulus is measured by Vesicle Fluctuation Analysis at biologically relevant pH and physiological buffer conditions and shows a dramatic decrease with increasing peptide concentration. The observed bilayer softening is interpreted in terms of a continuum model describing perturbations on the membrane organization. Our analysis suggests that the adsorbed peptides give rise to considerable local curvature disruptions of the membrane.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Chemistry, MEMPHYS-Center for Biomembrane Physics, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.
authors.forename: Hélène
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bouvrais
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Méléard
authors.forename: Tanja
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pott
authors.forename: Knud J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Jensen
authors.forename: Jesper
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brask
authors.forename: John H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Ipsen
mesh_terms: D054806:Magainins / Q000737:chemistry*; D008566:Membranes / Q000737:chemistry*; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry; D010713:Phosphatidylcholines / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D054806:Magainins; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D010455:Peptides; D010713:Phosphatidylcholines; C028694:1-palmitoyl-2-oleoylphosphatidylcholine