Effects of Lipid Tethering in Extremophile-Inspired Membranes on H(+)/OH(-) Flux at Room Temperature.
This work explores the proton/hydroxide permeability (PH+/OH-) of membranes that were made of synthetic extremophile-inspired phospholipids with systematically varied structural elements. A fluorescence-based permeability assay was optimized to determine the effects on the PH+/OH- through liposome membranes with variations in the following lipid attributes: transmembrane tethering, tether length, and the presence of isoprenoid methyl groups on one or both lipid tails. All permeability assays were performed in the presence of a low concentration of valinomycin (10 nM) to prevent buildup of a membrane potential without artificially increasing the measured PH+/OH-. Surprisingly, the presence of a transmembrane tether did not impact PH+/OH- at room temperature. Among tethered lipid monolayers, PH+/OH- increased with increasing tether length if the number of carbons in the untethered acyl tail was constant. Untethered lipids with two isoprenoid methyl tails led to lower PH+/OH- values than lipids with only one or no isoprenoid tails. Molecular dynamics simulations revealed a strong positive correlation between the probability of observing water molecules in the hydrophobic core of these lipid membranes and their proton permeability. We propose that water penetration as revealed by molecular dynamics may provide a general strategy for predicting proton permeability through various lipid membranes without the need for experimentation.
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan; Adolphe Merkle Institute, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland.
Thomas B H
TBH
Schroeder
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California.
Geoffray
G
Leriche
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California.
Takaoki
T
Koyanagi
Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Mitchell A
MA
Johnson
Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Kathryn N
KN
Haengel
Adolphe Merkle Institute, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland; Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Olivia M
OM
Eggenberger
Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Claire L
CL
Wang
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California.
Young Hun
YH
Kim
Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Karthik
K
Diraviyam
Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
David
D
Sept
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California.
Jerry
J
Yang
Adolphe Merkle Institute, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland; Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Electronic address: michael.mayer@unifr.ch.
Michael
M
Mayer
D001105:Archaea / Q000737:chemistry; D040761:Biomimetic Materials / Q000737:chemistry; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D006878:Hydroxides / Q000737:chemistry*; D007476:Ionophores / Q000737:chemistry; D008081:Liposomes / Q000737:chemistry*; D008563:Membrane Lipids / Q000737:chemistry*; D008564:Membrane Potentials; D008689:Methacrylates; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D056004:Molecular Dynamics Simulation; D010539:Permeability; D011522:Protons; D053835:Unilamellar Liposomes / Q000737:chemistry*; D014634:Valinomycin / Q000737:chemistry; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry
D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D006878:Hydroxides; D007476:Ionophores; D008081:Liposomes; D008563:Membrane Lipids; D008689:Methacrylates; D011522:Protons; C483029:Temphase; D053835:Unilamellar Liposomes; D014867:Water; D014634:Valinomycin; C031356:hydroxide ion