Insertion of magainin into the lipid bilayer detected using lipid photolabels.

We investigated the interaction of the antimicrobial peptides Ala19-magainin 2 amide and magainin 2 amide with lipid using two lipid photolabels, azidobenzoyl galactosylceramide (GalCer-PL) and azidobenzoylamido capryloyl galactosylceramide (GalCer-C8-PL), which position their photosensitive groups near the apolar-polar interface and near the center of the bilayer, respectively. Magainins have been postulated to permeabilize membranes either by inserting in a transmembrane fashion into the bilayer and forming a channel or by binding to the surface of the bilayer and disturbing lipid packing. Evidence for channel formation has been difficult to obtain, possibly because only a fraction of the peptide may form a channel at any one time and because the channels may have a short lifetime. Both photolabels significantly labeled the peptides when bound to acidic phospholipid vesicles. The extent of labeling by GalCer-C8-PL was at least 70% of that by GalCer-PL, indicating that some of the peptide was inserted deeply into the bilayer at least transiently. The extent of labeling of Ala19-magainin 2 amide increased significantly with an increase in the peptide to lipid mole ratio, indicating cooperativity and supporting the channel model. The extent of labeling of this peptide was maximal by 30 s and did not change over 30 min, indicating that peptide insertion is rapid and either that the peptide remains inserted for at least 30 min or that equilibrium between inserted and noninserted peptide is achieved by 30 s. The latter is supported by other studies in the literature. Use of this hydrophobic photolabeling technique has permitted detection of peptide monomers which inserted into the bilayer and/or formed a channel at some time during the labeling procedure.