Pinigin Konstantin V, Akimov Sergey A
Frumkin Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 31/4 Leninskiy Prospekt, 119071 Moscow, Russia.
Membranes (Basel). 2023 Sep 28;13(10):816. doi: 10.3390/membranes13100816.
The lipid membranes of living cells are composed of a large number of lipid types and can undergo phase separation with the formation of nanometer-scale liquid-ordered lipid domains, also called rafts. Raft coalescence, i.e., the fusion of lipid domains, is involved in important cell processes, such as signaling and trafficking. In this work, within the framework of the theory of elasticity of lipid membranes, we explore how amphipathic peptides adsorbed on lipid membranes may affect the domain-domain fusion processes. We show that the elastic deformations of lipid membranes drive amphipathic peptides to the boundary of lipid domains, which leads to an increase in the average energy barrier of the domain-domain fusion, even if the surface concentration of amphipathic peptides is low and the domain boundaries are only partially occupied by the peptides. This inhibition of the fusion of lipid domains may lead to negative side effects of using amphipathic peptides as antimicrobial agents.
活细胞的脂质膜由大量脂质类型组成,并且会发生相分离,形成纳米级的液晶态脂质结构域,也称为脂筏。脂筏融合,即脂质结构域的融合,参与了诸如信号传导和运输等重要的细胞过程。在这项工作中,在脂质膜弹性理论的框架内,我们探究了吸附在脂质膜上的两亲性肽如何影响结构域间的融合过程。我们表明,脂质膜的弹性变形会将两亲性肽驱赶到脂质结构域的边界,这导致结构域间融合的平均能垒增加,即使两亲性肽的表面浓度很低且结构域边界仅被肽部分占据。脂质结构域融合的这种抑制作用可能会导致将两亲性肽用作抗菌剂时产生负面副作用。