Structure of Carbon Nanotube Porins in Lipid Bilayers: An in Situ Small-Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS) Study.
Carbon nanotube porins (CNTPs), small segments of carbon nanotubes capable of forming defined pores in lipid membranes, are important future components for bionanoelectronic devices as they could provide a robust analog of biological membrane channels. In order to control the incorporation of these CNT channels into lipid bilayers, it is important to understand the structure of the CNTPs before and after insertion into the lipid bilayer as well as the impact of such insertion on the bilayer structure. Here we employed a noninvasive in situ probe, small-angle X-ray scattering, to study the integration of CNT porins into dioleoylphosphatidylcholine bilayers. Our results show that CNTPs in solution are stabilized by a monolayer of lipid molecules wrapped around their outer surface. We also demonstrate that insertion of CNTPs into the lipid bilayer results in decreased bilayer thickness with the magnitude of this effect increasing with the concentration of CNTPs.
Physical and Life Sciences Directorate, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory , Livermore, California 94550, United States.
Ich C
IC
Tran
Physical and Life Sciences Directorate, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory , Livermore, California 94550, United States.
Ramya H
RH
Tunuguntla
Physical and Life Sciences Directorate, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory , Livermore, California 94550, United States.
Kyunghoon
K
Kim
Physical and Life Sciences Directorate, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory , Livermore, California 94550, United States.
Jonathan R I
JR
Lee
Physical and Life Sciences Directorate, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory , Livermore, California 94550, United States.
Trevor M
TM
Willey
Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, SLAC National Accelerator Center , Menlo Park, California 94025, United States.
Thomas M
TM
Weiss
Physical and Life Sciences Directorate, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory , Livermore, California 94550, United States.
Aleksandr
A
Noy
Physical and Life Sciences Directorate, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory , Livermore, California 94550, United States.
Tony
T
van Buuren
D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D058608:Nanopores; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon; D053838:Scattering, Small Angle; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon
Phospholipid; carbon nanotube; porins; small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS)