Multistep Interactions between Ibuprofen and Lipid Membranes.

Ibuprofen (IBU) interacts with phosphatidylcholine membranes in three distinct steps as a function of concentration. In a first step (<10 µM), IBU electrostatically adsorbs to the lipid headgroups and gradually decreases the interfacial potential. This first step helps to facilitate the second step (10-300 µM), in which hydrophobic insertion of the drug occurs. The second step disrupts the packing of the lipid acyl chains and expands the area per lipid. In a final step, above 300 µM IBU, the lipid membrane begins to solubilize, resulting in a detergent-like effect. The results described herein were obtained by a combination of fluorescence binding assays, vibrational sum frequency spectroscopy, and Langmuir monolayer compression experiments. By introducing trimethylammonium-propane, phosphatidylglycerol, and phosphatidylethanolamine lipids as well as cholesterol, we demonstrated that both the chemistry of the lipid headgroups and the packing of lipid acyl chains can substantially influence the interactions between IBU and the membranes. Moreover, different membrane chemistries can alter particular steps in the binding interaction.

Supported Lipid Bilayers with Phosphatidylethanolamine as the Major Component.

Phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) is notoriously difficult to incorporate into model membrane systems, such as fluid supported lipid bilayers (SLBs), at high concentrations because of its intrinsic negative curvature. Using fluorescence-based techniques, we demonstrate that having fewer sites of unsaturation in the lipid tails leads to high-quality SLBs because these lipids help to minimize the curvature. Moreover, shorter saturated chains can help maintain the membranes in the fluid phase. Using these two guidelines, we find that up to 70 mol % PE can be incorporated into SLBs at room temperature and up to 90 mol % PE can be incorporated at 37 °C. Curiously, conditions under which three-dimensional tubules project outward from the planar surface as well as conditions under which domain formation occurs can be found. We have employed these model membrane systems to explore the ability of Ni2+ to bind to PE. It was found that this transition metal ion binds 1000-fold tighter to PE than to phosphatidylcholine lipids. In the future, this platform could be exploited to monitor the binding of other transition metal ions or the binding of antimicrobial peptides. It could also be employed to explore the physical properties of PE-containing membranes, such as phase domain behavior and intermolecular hydrogen bonding.

Cu(2+) Binds to Phosphatidylethanolamine and Increases Oxidation in Lipid Membranes.

Herein, we demonstrate that Cu(2+) binds bivalently to phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), the second most abundant lipid in mammalian cells. The apparent equilibrium dissociation constant, K(DApp), for the Cu(2+)-PE complex at physiological pH is approximately 2 µM and is insensitive to the concentration of PE in the membrane. By contrast, at pH 10.0, where PE lipids bear a negative charge, K(DApp) decreases with increasing PE content and has a value of 150 nM for bilayers containing 70 mol % PE. The oxidation of double bonds in PE-containing bilayers can be monitored in the presence of Cu(2+). Strikingly, it was found that the oxidation rate is 8.2 times faster at pH 7.4 for bilayers containing 70 mol % PE than for pure phosphatidylcholine (PC) bilayers upon exposure of both to 70 µM Cu(2+) and 10 mM hydrogen peroxide. The rate of oxidation increases linearly with the PE content in the membrane. These results may help explain the high level of lipid oxidation in PE-containing membranes for neurodegenerative diseases and autism where the Cu(2+) concentration in the body is abnormally high.