title: Protonation Dynamics on Lipid Nanodiscs: Influence of the Membrane Surface Area and External Buffers.
abstract: Lipid membrane surfaces can act as proton-collecting antennae, accelerating proton uptake by membrane-bound proton transporters. We investigated this phenomenon in lipid nanodiscs (NDs) at equilibrium on a local scale, analyzing fluorescence fluctuations of individual pH-sensitive fluorophores at the membrane surface by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS). The protonation rate of the fluorophores was ∼100-fold higher when located at 9- and 12-nm diameter NDs, compared to when in solution, indicating that the proton-collecting antenna effect is maximal already for a membrane area of ∼60 nm(2). Fluorophore-labeled cytochrome c oxidase displayed a similar increase when reconstituted in 12 nm NDs, but not in 9 nm NDs, i.e., an acceleration of the protonation rate at the surface of cytochrome c oxidase is found when the lipid area surrounding the protein is larger than 80 nm(2), but not when below 30 nm(2). We also investigated the effect of external buffers on the fluorophore proton exchange rates at the ND membrane-water interfaces. With increasing buffer concentrations, the proton exchange rates were found to first decrease and then, at millimolar buffer concentrations, to increase. Monte Carlo simulations, based on a simple kinetic model of the proton exchange at the membrane-water interface, and using rate parameter values determined in our FCS experiments, could reconstruct both the observed membrane-size and the external buffer dependence. The FCS data in combination with the simulations indicate that the local proton diffusion coefficient along a membrane is ∼100 times slower than that observed over submillimeter distances by proton-pulse experiments (Ds ∼ 10(-5)cm(2)/s), and support recent theoretical studies showing that proton diffusion along membrane surfaces is time- and length-scale dependent.
authors.affiliation: Experimental Biomolecular Physics, Department of Applied Physics, KTH-Royal Institute of Technology, AlbaNova University Center, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Arrhenius Laboratories for Natural Sciences, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Linda Näsvik
authors.initials: LN
authors.lastname: Öjemyr
authors.affiliation: Experimental Biomolecular Physics, Department of Applied Physics, KTH-Royal Institute of Technology, AlbaNova University Center, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bergstrand
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Arrhenius Laboratories for Natural Sciences, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Brzezinski
authors.affiliation: Experimental Biomolecular Physics, Department of Applied Physics, KTH-Royal Institute of Technology, AlbaNova University Center, Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: jwideng@kth.se.
authors.forename: Jerker
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Widengren
mesh_terms: D002021:Buffers; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D007700:Kinetics; D009010:Monte Carlo Method; D049329:Nanostructures; D011522:Protons; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D002021:Buffers; D011522:Protons; D014867:Water; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV