多组分磷脂巨囊泡的相结构和胆固醇对微畴成长的影响

摘要：巨囊泡作为细胞的简化模型,其分相与出芽机理及动力学规律已引起许多领域科学家的关注。在富含胆固醇的典型生物膜体系如二棕榈酰磷脂酰胆碱DPPC(2-dihexadecanoyl-rac-glycero-3phosphocholine)/二油酰磷脂酰胆碱DOPC(dioleoyl-phosphatidylcholine)/胆固醇(Chol)的三组分形成的巨囊泡作为模型,从高温退火至低温会发生相分离,形成微畴。实验中借助荧光显微镜观察生物膜体系侧向分离的相结构图。实验发现,体系各组分的不同会影响磷脂膜的相结构和膜内微畴的成长,固定 DOPC/DPPC为1:1的前提下,微畴尺寸随着胆固醇参入量的增加而变大。最后运用理论进一步分析了微畴的成长机理。     

蜂毒肽浓度和磷脂组分对巨囊泡泄露的影响

蜂毒肽作为一种广谱抗菌肽已经得到广泛认知,用蜂毒肽构建载药体系攻击癌细胞研究正在兴起.基于仿生物膜模型探索其破坏机理,可以避免潜在活性细胞过程的影响.在此,我们选用细胞尺寸的单层巨囊泡膜模型,可在光学显微镜下直接观察和操作,获得仿正常细胞膜和仿癌细胞膜在不同蜂毒肽浓度刺激下的响应.研究得出,低浓度蜂毒肽诱导囊泡泄露实验表明中性磷脂囊泡以孔模式为主泄露,负电性磷脂囊泡以爆裂模式为主泄露;高浓度蜂毒肽诱导囊泡泄露实验表明负电性磷脂相较于中性磷脂可延迟蜂毒肽作用效果;蜂毒肽色氨酸残基荧光光谱表明囊泡膜表面蜂毒肽吸附量以及泄露模式依赖于磷脂组分.此外,推断了蜂毒肽对不同组分磷脂膜的破坏作用模型.研究为蜂毒肽在肿瘤细胞的作用机制及其衍生物的优化设计提供参考.     

蜂毒肽浓度和磷脂组分对巨囊泡泄露的影响

蜂毒肽作为一种广谱抗菌肽已经得到广泛认知,用蜂毒肽构建载药体系攻击癌细胞研究正在兴起.基于仿生物膜模型探索其破坏机理,可以避免潜在活性细胞过程的影响.在此,我们选用细胞尺寸的单层巨囊泡膜模型,可在光学显微镜下直接观察和操作,获得仿正常细胞膜和仿癌细胞膜在不同蜂毒肽浓度刺激下的响应.研究得出,低浓度蜂毒肽诱导囊泡泄露实验表明中性磷脂囊泡以孔模式为主泄露,负电性磷脂囊泡以爆裂模式为主泄露;高浓度蜂毒肽诱导囊泡泄露实验表明负电性磷脂相较于中性磷脂可延迟蜂毒肽作用效果;蜂毒肽色氨酸残基荧光光谱表明囊泡膜表面蜂毒肽吸附量以及泄露模式依赖于磷脂组分.此外,推断了蜂毒肽对不同组分磷脂膜的破坏作用模型.研究为蜂毒肽在肿瘤细胞的作用机制及其衍生物的优化设计提供参考.     

电制备巨囊泡的方法和机理探索

利用倒置显微镜研究电制备巨囊泡, 并分析其形成和成长的动力学机理. 由于磷脂头部的电特性, 电场对水化的磷脂双层的静电力促使磷脂膜内双层之间分离. 在动力学的作用下, 双层两叶的不对称受力引发其弯曲、出芽、膨胀、封闭以及相互融合. 结果表明, 电场参数、干磷脂膜的均匀性、缓冲液以及温度等因素影响巨囊泡的粒径、形状和稳定性.     

电制备巨囊泡的方法和机理探索

利用倒置显微镜研究电制备巨囊泡,并分析其形成和成长的动力学机理.由于磷脂头部的电特性,电场对水化的磷脂双层的静电力促使磷脂膜内双层之间分离.在动力学的作用下,双层两叶的不对称受力引发其弯曲、出芽、膨胀、封闭以及相互融合.结果表明,电场参数、干磷脂膜的均匀性、缓冲液以及温度等因素影响巨囊泡的粒径、形状和稳定性.     

磷脂跨膜交换机制的研究

膜间磷脂交换是一项重要的生理活动, 其对药物运输及膜功能研究有重要意义. 本文用石英晶体微天平及耗散系数测试仪研究囊泡与囊泡、囊泡与支撑膜间磷脂交换行为, 荧光光谱仪用来测量膜表面电性与膜组分对磷脂交换的影响. 实验结果表明: 磷脂跨膜交换速率与交换时间成反比, 膜表面异电性磷脂的增加会加速膜内相互作用和磷脂跨膜交换速率, 以及改变膜表面组分会对囊泡与支撑膜间的磷脂交换产生影响. 本文研究有助于加深理解磷脂跨膜交换机制, 并对药学研究提供参考.     

磷脂跨膜交换机制的研究

膜间磷脂交换是一项重要的生理活动,其对药物运输及膜功能研究有重要意义.本文用石英晶体微天平及耗散系数测试仪研究囊泡与囊泡、囊泡与支撑膜间磷脂交换行为,荧光光谱仪用来测量膜表面电性与膜组分对磷脂交换的影响.实验结果表明:磷脂跨膜交换速率与交换时间成反比,膜表面异电性磷脂的增加会加速膜内相互作用和磷脂跨膜交换速率,以及改变膜表面组分会对囊泡与支撑膜间的磷脂交换产生影响.本文研究有助于加深理解磷脂跨膜交换机制,并对药学研究提供参考.     

变温拉曼光谱和DSC探讨人参皂苷Rb1分子与DPPC双层膜的作用

研究人参皂苷分子与生物膜的作用对于深入了解中药人参的药理活性及其生物学功效至关重要。DPPC作为具有双分子层结构的脂质分子,常被许多国内外学者作为模拟膜的模型来研究药物分子与细胞膜的作用;Rb1作为中药人参中的重要皂苷成分,具有显著的药理学功效和生物性能。拉曼光谱是探讨分子间作用的有力工具,差示扫描量热技术（differential scanning calorimetry, DSC）是研究脂双层分子单体及其与药物分子作用的常用技术,而将两者结合研究药物分子对细胞膜作用的研究的报道较少。本文采用变温拉曼光谱和DSC探讨了在温度变化条件下人参皂苷Rb1单体分子与DPPC双层膜的作用。通过拉曼光谱测试,在Rb1作用前后,DPPC分子极性头部O—C—C—N+和C—C伸缩振动区域以及烷基链部分C—H键的伸缩振动区域的变化表明,随着温度的增加,含有一定浓度Rb1的DPPC磷脂极性头部旁氏构象没有发生变化,脂酰链的无序性构象增多,侧向排列的无序性增强,DPPC脂双层的流动性增加。由DSC实验得到的几个热力学常数[相变温度（T_m）、半峰宽（ΔT_1/2）及相转变焓值（ΔH）]的变化表明,DSC进一步验证了变温拉曼实验结果,随着Rb1浓度的增大,DPPC双层膜的相变温度显著下降,流动性增强,说明Rb1对DPPC双层膜的影响较大。     

组分混合磷脂球胶束化动力学

两亲性磷脂分子能够形成各种不同形态的胶束,其结构形成不仅依赖于磷脂分子结构和组成,还依赖于两亲性分子的自组装路径. 本工作采用粗粒化分子动力学方法模拟研究了二棕榈酰磷脂酰胆碱(DPPC)与十六烷基磷酸胆碱(HPC)混合磷脂球胶束化行为. 通过调节DPPC/HPC的组分比例和磷脂球尺寸,观察到多种不同胶束结构形成,例如：球形和非球形(扁平或长椭球)囊泡、盘形胶束、单环或双环胶束和蠕虫状胶束. 研究发现,由于原位胶束化作用,采用磷脂球作为初始态有利于形成囊泡和环形拓扑结构胶束. 模拟结果表明,结合初始态结构设定同时调节磷脂分子组成是一种有效调控磷脂胶束结构的方法.     

金属颗粒薄膜巨磁电阻效应的影响因素

研究金属颗粒薄膜的颗粒尺寸、磁性组分等对巨磁电阻效应的影响.在自由电子模型和自旋相关散射理论的基础上，计算了金属颗粒膜体系的电子平均散射势.在计算过程中将自旋相关项与宏观量相联系，得到了巨磁电阻效应与磁性成分比例、颗粒尺寸的关系.磁电阻效应的模拟曲线表明，增加磁性成分比例和减小磁性颗粒尺寸可增强颗粒膜的巨磁电阻效应. 关键词：     

Temperature effect on thin lipid film elasticity and phase separation: insights from Langmuir monolayer and fluorescence microscopy techniques

Langmuir monolayer pressure isotherms and compressibility modulus measurements of phospholipid mixtures in several Langmuir monolayer systems at the air/water interface were investigated in this study. The ultimate aim was to carry out a comparison of the elasticity modulus for monolayers with different mixtures of l,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DOPC), l,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPPC) and chicken egg yolk sphingomyelin (eSM), in the presence/absence of cholesterol (Chol). In particular, we were able to propose that the leading force beyond the phase separation into liquid expanded (LE-) and liquid condensed (LC-) phases emerges from the increasing barrier to incorporate DOPC molecules into a highly ordered LC-phase. In addition, our findings suggest that DOPC lipid molecules have a priority to incorporate in a disordered LE-phase, while DPPC and eSM prefer the ordered one. Also, Chol seems to split almost equally into both phases, indicating that Chol has no priority for either phase and there are no particular interactions between Chol and saturated lipid molecules.     

Lateral diffusion in equimolar mixtures of natural sphingomyelins with dioleoylphosphatidylcholine

Cellular membranes of mammals are composed of a complex assembly of diverse phospholipids. Sphingomyelin (SM) and phosphatidylcholine (PC) are important lipids of eukaryotic cellular membranes and neuronal tissues, and presumably participate in the formation of membrane domains, known as "rafts," through intermolecular interaction and lateral microphase decomposition. In these two-dimensional membrane systems, lateral diffusion of lipids is an essential dynamic factor, which might even be indicative of lipid phase separation process. Here, we used pulsed field gradient nuclear magnetic resonance to study lateral diffusion of lipid components in macroscopically oriented bilayers composed of equimolar mixtures of natural SMs of egg yolk, bovine brain, bovine milk and dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) with dioleoylphosphatidylcholine (DOPC). In addition, differential scanning calorimetry was used as a complementary technique to characterize the phase state of the lipid bilayers. In fully liquid bilayers, the lateral diffusion coefficients in both DOPC/DPPC and DOPC/SM systems exhibit mean values of the pure bilayers. For DOPC/SM bilayer system, this behavior can be explained by a model where most SM molecules form short-lived lateral domains with preferential SM-SM interactions occurring within them. However, for bilayers in the presence of their low-temperature gel phase, lateral diffusion becomes complicated and cannot simply be understood solely by a simple change in the liquid phase decomposition.     

Patterning silver nanocubes in monolayers using phase separated lipids as templates

Strategies for assembling silver nanocubes (NCs) into distinct 2D patterns on Langmuir–Blodgett (LB) films are demonstrated using two different lipid mixtures as vehicles: (1) raft mixtures containing 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DOPC), sphingomyelin (SPM), and cholesterol in different mole ratios (2:2:1 and 1:1:1) and (2) 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPPC) and 1,2-dilauroyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DLPC) at a 1:3 mol ratio. Atomic force microscopy was employed to unveil the mechanisms of such pattern formation in the LB film. The results demonstrate that aggregation of NCs into round-like pattern is governed by preferential localization of NCs within the liquid condensed (LC) domains of DOPC/SPM/Cholesterol mixture. Cholesterol was found to govern the size and shape of the rounded islands. On the other hand, incorporation of NCs within the liquid expanded (LE) phase of DPPC/DLPC mixture produced linear-branched chains, oriented normal to the Langmuir film transfer direction. The as engineered patterns of silver NCs exhibited characteristic plasmonic signatures. Our results reveal the potential in assembling plasmonic metal nanoparticles into diverse patterns on solid substrates by exploiting their preferential localization either in LC or LE phase of appropriate lipid mixture in Langmuir film.     

Detection of submicron-sized raft-like domains in membranes by small-angle neutron scattering

Using coarse grained models of heterogeneous vesicles we demonstrate the potential for small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) to detect and distinguish between two different categories of lateral segregation: 1) unilamellar vesicles (ULV) containing a single domain and 2) the formation of several small domains or “clusters” (~10 nm in radius) on a ULV. Exploiting the unique sensitivity of neutron scattering to differences between hydrogen and deuterium, we show that the liquid ordered (lo) DPPC-rich phase can be selectively labeled using chain deuterated dipalymitoyl phosphatidylcholine (dDPPC), which greatly facilitates the use of SANS to detect membrane domains. SANS experiments are then performed in order to detect and characterize, on nanometer length scales, lateral heterogeneities, or so-called “rafts”, in ~30 nm radius low polydispersity ULV made up of ternary mixtures of phospholipids and cholesterol. For 1:1:1 DOPC:DPPC:cholesterol (DDC) ULV we find evidence for the formation of lateral heterogeneities on cooling below 30 °C. These heterogeneities do not appear when DOPC is replaced by SOPC. Fits to the experimental data using coarse grained models show that, at room temperature, DDC ULV each exhibit approximately 30 domains with average radii of ~10 nm.     

Thermodynamic approach to phase coexistence in ternary phospholipid-cholesterol mixtures

We introduce a simple and predictive model for determining the phase stability of ternary phospholipid-cholesterol mixtures. Assuming that competition between the liquid and gel order of the phospholipids is the main driving force behind lipid segregation, we derive a Gibbs free energy of mixing, based on the thermodynamic properties of the lipids main transition. A numerical approach was devised that enables the fast and efficient determination of the ternary diagrams associated with our Gibbs free energy. The computed phase coexistence diagram of DOPC/DPPC/cholesterol reproduces well-known features for this system at 10 °C, as well as its evolution with temperature.     

Miscibility phase diagrams of giant vesicles containing sphingomyelin

Saturated sphingomyelin (SM) lipids are implicated in lipid rafts in cell plasma membranes. Here we use fluorescence microscopy to observe coexisting liquid domains in vesicles containing SM, an unsaturated phosphatidylcholine lipid (either DOPC or POPC), and cholesterol. We note similar phase behavior in a model membrane mixture without SM (DOPC/DPPC/Chol), but find no micron-scale liquid domains in membranes of POPC/PSM/Chol. We delineate the onset of solid phases below the miscibility transition temperature, and detail indirect evidence for a three-phase coexistence of one solid and two liquid phases.     

Investigating lipid interactions and the process of raft formation in cellular membranes using ToF-SIMS

There is an increased interest in how lipids interact with each other, especially in the lateral separation of lipids into coexisting liquid phases as this is believed to be an attribute of raft formation in cell membranes. ToF-SIMS has shown itself to be an excellent tool for investigating cellular and model membrane systems and will be perhaps the most powerful one for investigating raft formation. Results from our laboratory show the capability of ToF-SIMS at identifying unequivocally the content of coexisting liquid lipid phases. Using supported lipid monolayers we find that the inclusion of dipalmitoylphosphatidylethanolamine (DPPE) to a homogeneous dipalmitoyl-phosphatidylcholine (DPPC)/cholesterol phase results in the formation of cholesterol-rich domains [A.G. Sostarecz, C.M. McQuaw, A.G. Ewing, N. Winograd, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 126 (2004) 13882]. Also, for DPPE/cholesterol systems a single homogeneous DPPE/cholesterol phase is formed at ∼50 mol% cholesterol, whereas DPPC/cholesterol systems form a single phase at 30 mol% cholesterol [C.M. McQuaw, A. Sostarecz, L. Zheng, A.G. Ewing, N. Winograd, Langmuir 21 (2005) 807]. Currently we are exploring the incorporation of sphingomyelin into phospholipid-cholesterol mixtures in an effort to gain a better understanding of its role in raft formation.     

Membrane fusion intermediates and the effect of cholesterol: An in-house X-ray scattering study

We have developed an X-ray scattering setup which allows to study membrane fusion intermediates or other nonlamellar lipid mesophases by laboratory-scale X-ray sources alone, thus taking advantage of unrestricted beamtime compared to synchrotron sources. We report results of a study of pure lipid bilayers and phospholipid/cholesterol binary mixtures. Stalks, putative intermediate structures occurring during the membrane fusion process, can clearly be identified from reconstructed electron density maps. Phase diagrams of the lyotropic phase behavior of DOPC/cholesterol and DPhPC/cholesterol samples are presented. If cholesterol is present in moderate concentrations, it can substantially promote the formation of stalks at higher degree of hydration. In addition, a possibly new phase in DOPC/cholesterol is found at high cholesterol content in the low humidity range.     

Hydrated cholesterol: Phospholipid domains probed by synchrotron radiation

X-ray scattering experiments on mixed films of cholesterol and phospholipids at air-water and Si solid-water interfaces were undertaken to glean information on pathological crystallization of cholesterol bilayers. Grazing-incidence X-ray diffraction patterns at the air-water interface of various cholesterol:dipalmitoyl-phosphatidylcholine (Ch:DPPC) monolayer mixtures compressed beyond monolayer collapse yielded the established 10×7.5 Å^2 Ch bilayer motif, for Ch:DPPC molar ratios higher than 2.5:1. Attempts to obtain a diffraction signal from various Ch:phospholipid film mixtures at the Si solid-water interface, indicative of the presence of the Ch bilayer motif, were unsuccessful. Only after removal of sufficient water from the cell was a weak diffraction signal obtained suggestive of a cholesterol film two bilayers thick. Off-specular X-ray reflectivity measurements made on a 1.75:1 mixture of Ch and bovine cardiac phosphatidylcholine (BCPC) deposited as a bilayer on a Si wafer and placed in a cell filled with water yielded positive results. The derived electron density profile showed the presence of a bilayer mixture consistent with a phase separation of cholesterol and BCPC, and possible formation of a crystalline cholesterol bilayer within the hydrated mixed bilayer, but not a proof thereof.