title: Glycerol-induced membrane stiffening: the role of viscous fluid adlayers.
abstract: Lipid interfaces, ranging from cell membranes to thin surfactant layers that stabilize lung alveoli, are integral to living systems. Such interfaces are often subjected to mechanical forces, and because of their membrane-like geometry, they can easily deform by bending into localized folds. In this work, we explore the role of small molecules (i.e., glycerol) on the mechanical stability of model lung surfactant monolayers. We demonstrate that the presence of glycerol increases local monolayer bending stiffness by orders of magnitude. Our x-ray and neutron reflectivity measurements indicate that water is preferentially depleted, or glycerol is preferentially enriched, at the lipid headgroup/solvent interface, and that this glycerol-enriched layer extends O(10Å) beneath the monolayer with an adsorption free energy of -2.5 to -4.6 kJ/mol. The dramatic change in membrane bending stiffness in the presence of the sugar adlayer is understood in terms of two models: 1), lipid antiplasticization by glycerol; and 2), a continuum mechanical model of the viscous adlayer.
authors: Department of Chemistry, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
authors: Luka
authors: L
authors: Pocivavsek
authors: Kseniya
authors: K
authors: Gavrilov
authors: Kathleen D
authors: KD
authors: Cao
authors: Eva Y
authors: EY
authors: Chi
authors: Dongxu
authors: D
authors: Li
authors: Binhua
authors: B
authors: Lin
authors: Mati
authors: M
authors: Meron
authors: Jaroslaw
authors: J
authors: Majewski
authors: Ka Yee C
authors: KY
authors: Lee
mesh_terms: D005990:Glycerol / Q000737:chemistry*; D008560:Membrane Fluidity; D008563:Membrane Lipids / Q000737:chemistry*; D009502:Neutrons; D013057:Spectrum Analysis; D013696:Temperature; D014783:Viscosity; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction; D014965:X-Rays
chemical_list: D008563:Membrane Lipids; D005990:Glycerol