Belozersky Institute of Physico-Chemical Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, 119991, Russia.
Biochemistry (Mosc). 2024 Mar;89(3):451-461. doi: 10.1134/S0006297924030064.
Ionic liquids (ILs) are organic salts with a low melting point. This is due to the fact that their alkyl side chains, which are covalently connected to the ion, hinder the crystallization of ILs. The low melting point of ILs has led to their widespread use as relatively harmless solvents. However, ILs do have toxic properties, the mechanism of which is largely unknown, so identifying the cellular targets of ILs is of practical importance. In our work, we showed that imidazolium ILs are not able to penetrate model membranes without damaging them. We also found that inactivation of multidrug resistance (MDR) pumps in yeast cells does not increase their sensitivity to imidazolium ILs. The latter indicates that the target of toxicity of imidazolium ILs is not in the cytoplasm. Thus, it can be assumed that the disruption of the barrier properties of the plasma membrane is the main reason for the toxicity of low concentrations of imidazolium ILs. We also showed that supplementation with imidazolium ILs restores the growth of cells with kinetically blocked glycolysis. Apparently, a slight disruption of the plasma membrane caused by ILs can, in some cases, be beneficial for the cell.
离子液体 (ILs) 是一种低熔点的有机盐。这是因为与离子共价连接的烷基侧链阻碍了 ILs 的结晶。ILs 的低熔点导致它们被广泛用作相对无害的溶剂。然而，ILs 确实具有毒性，其机制在很大程度上尚不清楚，因此确定 ILs 的细胞靶标具有实际意义。在我们的工作中，我们表明咪唑 ILs 不能在不破坏它们的情况下穿透模型膜。我们还发现，酵母细胞中多药耐药 (MDR) 泵的失活不会增加它们对咪唑 ILs 的敏感性。后者表明，咪唑 ILs 的毒性靶标不在细胞质中。因此，可以假设破坏质膜的屏障特性是低浓度咪唑 ILs 毒性的主要原因。我们还表明，补充咪唑 ILs 可以恢复动力学上被阻断的糖酵解细胞的生长。显然，ILs 对质膜造成的轻微破坏在某些情况下对细胞可能是有益的。
