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Biomimetic tethered lipid membranes designed for membrane-protein interaction studies

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Abstract

The complexity of the biological membranes restricts their direct investigation at the nanoscale. Lipid bilayer membranes have been developed as a model of biological membranes in order to allow the interaction and insertion of peptides and membrane proteins in a functional manner. Promising models have been developed in the past two decades and tethered bilayer design traduces constant improvement of membrane models. The formation of protein free solid tethered membranes can be achieved by direct vesicle fusion, Langmuir–Blodgett, Langmuir–Schaffer transfers, self assembly of various building blocks such as thiol on gold, silane on quartz, grafting of polymers, as well as ligand receptor recognition. In this review, the current state of different tethered bilayer membrane will be described. We will focus on critical analysis of the main advantages/drawbacks of each kind of model construction and their ability to allow protein incorporation in non-denaturing conditions. Some of the current drawbacks encountered in these biomimetic models can be overcome using an innovative tethered bilayer design based on a reliable and fast formation method. The successful protein incorporation of the Adenylate Cyclase produced by Bordetella pertussis and the voltage dependent anion channel (VDAC) was demonstrated on this model.

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Abbreviations

AFM:

Atomic force microscopy

DSPE-PEG-NHS:

1.2-Distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine-poly(ethylene-glycol)-N-hydroxysuccinimide

EggPC:

Egg-phosphatidyl-choline

FRAP:

Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching

IS:

Impedance spectroscopy

LB:

Langmuir Blodgett

MeO-PEG-PDP:

Methoxy-poly(ethylene glycol)-2000-N-[3-(2-(pyridyldithio)propionate]

NBD-DPPE:

1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine-N-NBD (7-nitro-2,1,3-benzoxadiazol-4-yl)

PEI:

Polyethyleneimine

PEG:

Polyethylene glycol

POPC:

1-Palmitoyl 2-oleoyl phosphatidylcholine

QCM-D:

Quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation

SPR:

Surface plasmon resonance

VDAC:

Voltage dependent anion channel

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Acknowledgment

We acknowledge Dr. Ingo Köper (Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research) for scientific support and critical reading of the manuscript.

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  1. Max-Planck Institut für Polymerforschung, Ackermannweg 10, 55128, Mainz, Germany

    Claire Rossi

  2. Université de Nîmes, Rue Georges Salan, 30021, Nîmes, France

    Joël Chopineau

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  1. Claire Rossi
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Correspondence to Joël Chopineau.

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Presented at the joint biannual meeting of the SFB-GEIMM-GRIP, Anglet France, 14–19 October, 2006.

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Rossi, C., Chopineau, J. Biomimetic tethered lipid membranes designed for membrane-protein interaction studies. Eur Biophys J 36, 955–965 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00249-007-0202-y

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