Interaction of synthetic HA2 influenza fusion peptide analog with model membranes.

The interaction of the synthetic 21 amino acid peptide (AcE4K) with 1-oleoyl-2-[caproyl-7-NBD]-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine membranes is used as a model system for the pH-sensitive binding of fusion peptides to membranes. The sequence of AcE4K (Ac-GLFEAIAGFIENGWEGMIDGK) is based on the sequence of the hemagglutinin HA2 fusion peptide and has similar partitioning into phosphatidylcholine membranes as the viral peptide. pH-dependent partitioning in the membrane, circular dichroism, tryptophan fluorescence, change of membrane area, and membrane strength, are measured to characterize various key aspects of the peptide-membrane interaction. The experimental results show that the partitioning of AcE4K in the membrane is pH dependent. The bound peptide inserts in the membrane, which increases the overall membrane area in a pH-dependent manner, however the depth of insertion of the peptide in the membrane is independent of pH. This result suggests that the binding of the peptide to the membrane is driven by the protonation of its three glutamatic acids and the aspartic acid, which results in an increase of the number of bound molecules as the pH decreases from pH 7 to 4.5. The transition between the bound state and the free state is characterized by the Gibbs energy for peptide binding. This Gibbs energy for pH 5 is equal to -30.2 kJ/mol (-7.2 kcal/mol). Most of the change of the Gibbs energy during the binding of AcE4K is due to the enthalpy of binding -27.3 kJ/mol (-6.5 kcal/mol), while the entropy change is relatively small and is on the order of 6.4 J/mol.K (2.3 cal/mol.K). The energy barrier separating the bound and the free state, is characterized by the Gibbs energy of the transition state for peptide adsorption. This Gibbs energy is equal to 51.3 kJ/mol (12.3 kcal/mol). The insertion of the peptide into the membrane is coupled with work for creation of a vacancy for the peptide in the membrane. This work is calculated from the measured area occupied by a single peptide molecule (220 A(2)) and the membrane elasticity (190 mN/m), and is equal to 15.5 kJ/mol (3.7 kcal/mol). The comparison of the work for creating a vacancy and the Gibbs energy of the transition state shows that the work for creating a vacancy may have significant effect on the rate of peptide insertion and therefore plays an important role in peptide binding. Because the work for creating a vacancy depends on membrane elasticity and the elasticity of the membrane is dependent on membrane composition, this provides a tool for modulating the pH for membrane instability by changing membrane composition. The insertion of the peptide in the membrane does not affect the membrane permeability for water, which shows that the peptide does not perturb substantially the packing of the hydrocarbon region. However, the ability of the membrane to retain solutes in the presence of peptide is compromised, suggesting that the inserted peptide promotes formation of short living pores. The integrity of the membrane is substantially compromised below pH 4.8 (threshold pH), when large pores are formed and the membrane breaks down. The binding of the peptide in the pore region is reversible, and the pore size varies on the experimental conditions, which suggests that the peptide in the pore region does not form oligomers.

Function and regulation of chemoattractant receptors.

Phagocyte migration and activation at sites of inflammation is mediated through chemoattractant receptors that are coupled to G-proteins. Early studies from our laboratory demonstrated G-protein-mediated phospholipase C activation by chemoattractants. Recently, this laboratory developed cellular and animal models to allow biochemical, cell biological and molecular genetic approaches to be used in determining the mechanisms of chemoattractant receptor function, regulation, and cross regulation. These studies provided evidence that chemoattractant receptors activate distinct pathways for chemotaxis and exocytosis and cross-regulate each other's function at multiple levels. A major site of regulation is through phosphorylation of receptors by G-protein-coupled receptor kinases and by protein kinase C. In addition, the activation of phospholipase C by chemoattractants is also regulated at additional sites distal to receptor phosphorylation. These may include modulation of G-protein activation by regulators of G-protein signaling (RGS) and modification of phospholipase C. Phosphorylation of phospholipase Cbeta3 by both protein kinase A and protein kinase C has been demonstrated. The function and regulation of chemoattractant receptors are also being examined in mouse models. In these studies, mice deficient in leukotriene B4 receptors have been generated by targeted gene disruption. These mice displayed reduced neutrophil accumulation in certain inflammation models and sex-related differences in platelet-activating-factor induced anaphylaxis.

Chemoattractant receptors activate distinct pathways for chemotaxis and secretion. Role of G-protein usage.

Human leukocyte chemoattractant receptors activate chemotactic and cytotoxic pathways to varying degrees and also activate different G-proteins depending on the receptor and the cell-type. To determine the relationship between G-protein usage and the biological and biochemical responses activated, receptors for the chemoattractants formyl peptides (FR), platelet-activating factor (PAFR), and leukotriene B(4) (BLTR) were transfected into RBL-2H3 cells. Pertussis toxin (Ptx) served as a Galpha(i) inhibitor. These receptors were chosen to represent the spectrum of G(i) usage as Ptx had differential effects on their ability to induce calcium mobilization, phosphoinositide hydrolysis, and exocytosis with complete inhibition of all responses by FR, intermediate effects on BLTR, and little effect on PAFR. Ptx did not affect ligand-induced phosphorylation of PAFR and BLTR but inhibited phosphorylation of FR. In contrast, chemotaxis to formylmethionylleucylphenylalanine, leukotriene B(4), and platelet-activating factor was completely blocked by Ptx. Wortmannin, a phosphotidylinositol 3-kinase inhibitor, also completely blocked ligand-induced chemotaxis by all receptors but did not affect calcium mobilization or phosphoinositide hydrolysis; however, it partially blocked the exocytosis response to formylmethionylleucylphenylalanine and the platelet-activating factor. Membrane ruffling and pseudopod extension via the BLTR was also completely inhibited by both Ptx and wortmannin. These data suggest that of the chemoattractant receptors studied, G-protein usage varies with FR being totally dependent on G(i), whereas BLTR and PAFR utilize both G(i) and a Ptx-insensitive G-protein. Both Ptx-sensitive and -insensitive G-protein usage can mediate the activation of phospholipase C, mobilization of intracellular calcium, and exocytosis by chemoattractant receptors. Chemotaxis, however, had an absolute requirement for a G(i)-mediated pathway.

Material property characteristics for lipid bilayers containing lysolipid.

The apparent area expansion modulus and tensile strength of egg phosphatidylcholine (EPC) membranes are measured in the presence of monooleoylphosphatidylcholine (MOPC). The apparent area expansion modulus decreases from 171 mN m-1 for pure EPC membrane to 82 mN m-1 for a membrane containing 30 mol % MOPC. This significant decrease of the apparent area expansion modulus is attributed to the change of the membrane area due to the tension-dependent exchange of MOPC between the bathing solution and the membrane. Similar to the apparent area expansion modulus, the tensile strength of the membrane decreases with the increase of the molar concentration of MOPC in the membrane. The tensile strength of pure EPC membrane is 9.4 mN m-1 whereas that for a membrane containing 30 mol % MOPC is only 1.8 mN m-1, and for a membrane containing 50 mol % MOPC it is even smaller, on the order of 0.07 mN m-1. The decrease of the tensile strength is coupled with a decrease of the work for membrane breakdown, which changes from 4.3 x 10(-2) kT for pure EPC membrane to 2 x 10(-6) kT for a membrane with 50 mol % MOPC. Overall, these results show that the decrease of the apparent area expansion modulus in the presence of exchangeable molecules is a fundamental property for all membranes and depends on the area occupied by these molecules. The method presented here provides a unique tool for measuring the area occupied by an exchangeable molecule in the bilayer membrane.

Exchange of monooleoylphosphatidylcholine as monomer and micelle with membranes containing poly(ethylene glycol)-lipid.

Surface-grafted polymers, such as poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), provide an effective steric barrier against surface-surface and surface-macromolecule interactions. In the present work, we have studied the exchange of monooleoylphosphatidylcholine (MOPC) with vesicle membranes containing 750 mol wt surface-grafted PEG (incorporated as PEG-lipid) from 0 to 20 mol % and have analyzed the experimental results in terms of thermodynamic and stationary equilibrium models. Micropipette manipulation was used to expose a single lipid vesicle to a flow of MOPC solution (0.025 microM to 500 microM). MOPC uptake was measured by a direct measure of the vesicle area change. The presence of PEG(750) lipid in the vesicle membrane inhibited the partitioning of MOPC micelles (and to some extent microaggregates) into the membrane, while even up to 20 mol % PEG-lipid, it did not affect the exchange of MOPC monomers both into and out of the membrane. The experimental data and theoretical models show that grafted PEG acts as a very effective molecular scale "filter" and prevents micelle-membrane contact, substantially decreasing the apparent rate and amount of MOPC taken up by the membrane, thereby stabilizing the membrane in a solution of MOPC that would otherwise dissolve it.

Transient increase of free cytosolic calcium during neutrophil motility responses.

The release of free cytosolic calcium is a secondary messenger for many cell functions. Here we study the coupling between the release of intracellular calcium and motility responses of the human neutrophil. Two groups of motility responses are studied: motility responses in the presence of adhesion, such as cell crawling and phagocytosis, and motility responses 'in suspension', such as pseudopod formation. The motility responses are stimulated by the chemoattractant N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (fMLP) and the release of calcium is monitored by measuring the fluorescence from fluo-3. fMLP induces a single release of free cytosolic calcium both in suspended cells and in crawling cells. Calcium release is a threshold process where the number of cells releasing calcium is dependent on the chemoattractant concentration while the amount of released calcium is not. For suspended cells the threshold fMLP concentration for calcium release is in the order of 10(-7) M, while for crawling cells it is in the order of 5x10(-9) M. The smaller value of the threshold fMLP concentration for crawling cells compared to that for suspended cells suggests that bound adhesion receptors are involved in the calcium release. The threshold fMLP concentration for suspended cells is also larger than the minimum fMLP concentration (in the order of 10(-10) M) for initiating pseudopod formation. So, there is a range of fMLP concentrations where pseudopod formation occurs without calcium release. To explore this relationship further, pseudopod extension and calcium release are stimulated many times in a single cell by using fMLP concentrations above the threshold. The result is that calcium release is desensitized by fMLP while pseudopod extension is not. All the results taken together suggest that the release of free cytosolic calcium and the rearrangement of the F-actin network during motility follow different signaling pathways.

Loss of plasma membrane structural support in ATP-depleted renal epithelia.

Renal ischemia induces cytoskeletal alterations, membrane perturbations, including bleb formation, and ultimately membrane lysis. The mechanisms that underlie these alterations are largely unknown. Through the use of isolated rat renal proximal tubule fragments and calibrated micropipette techniques, two potential mechanisms for membrane bleb formation during ATP depletion were examined: 1) decreased cytoskeletal retention of the plasma membrane and 2) increased intracellular pressure. Under control conditions, the pressure required to pull the membrane from the underlying cellular matrix was 73 +/- 10 kdyn/cm2. After 30 min of ATP depletion, this pressure was diminished by >95% and blebs began to emerge from the basal membrane. The intracellular pressure within these blebbed cells was only 0.08 +/- 0.02 kdyn/cm2. These observations indicate that, during ATP depletion, the strength of membrane retention diminished until the relatively low intracellular pressure was capable of driving membrane bleb formation. Cytochalasin D, which disrupts the actin cytoskeleton, decreased the strength of membrane retention by 65 +/- 7%. This suggests that, during ATP depletion, alterations of the actin cytoskeleton may mediate the loss of membrane retention.

Exchange of monooleoylphosphatidylcholine with single egg phosphatidylcholine vesicle membranes.

In a previous paper we described the experiments and the framework of a model for the exchange of monooleoylphosphatidylcholine with a single egg phosphatidylcholine membrane. In the present paper a model is presented that relates the experimentally measured apparent characteristics of the overall kinetics of lysolipid exchange to the true rates of lysolipid exchange and interbilayer transfer. It is shown that the adsorption of the lysolipid follows two pathways: one through the adsorption of lipid monomers and other through the fusion of micelles. The desorption of lysolipid follows a single pathway, namely, the desorption of monomers. The overall rate of fast desorption under convective flow conditions gives the true rate of monomer desorption from the outer membrane monolayer. The overall rate of both slow lysolipid uptake and slow desorption gives the rate of interbilayer transfer. Because of the uneven distribution of lysolipid between the two monolayers during its uptake, one of the membrane monolayers is apparently extended relative to the other. This relative extension of one of the monolayers induces a monolayer tension. The induced monolayer tension can increase up to 7 mN.m-1, when most of the intercalated lysolipid only partitions into the monolayer facing the lysolipid solution. This value is similar to the measured value for the critical monolayer tension of membrane failure, which is on the order of 5 mN.m-1. The similarity of the magnitudes of the induced monolayer tension during monooleoylphosphatidylcholine exchange and the monolayer tension of membrane failure suggests that the interbilayer lipid transfer may be affected by the formation of short living membrane defects. Furthermore, the pH-induced interbilayer exchange of phosphatidylglycerol is considered. In this case, it is shown that the rate of interbilayer transfer is a function of the phosphatidylglycerol concentration in the membrane.

F-actin network formation in tethers and in pseudopods stimulated by chemoattractant.

Micropipets are used either to deliver a given concentration of the chemoattractant N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (fMLP) to a local region of a human neutrophil or to create a membrane tether. Pseudopods, which have a cylindrical shape and grow at a constant rate, are formed in either case. After reaching a maximum extension, they retract, even in the presence of chemoattractant. As a pseudopod grows, cell granules begin to penetrate the pseudopod region to a "boundary" that defines a distance to the pseudopod's leading edge that is almost constant. The exclusion of granules from this domain indicates that it is filled with a dense network. The formation of this network involves the plasma membrane because pseudopod growth ceases when a membrane tether is pulled away from the leading edge. The rate of pseudopod growth depends on fMLP concentration just as the number of occupied N-formyl peptide receptors depends on this concentration. The experimental data are explained by assuming that F-actin network is formed next to the plasma membrane. The newly formed network displaces the membrane and the dominant process in the network region then becomes F-actin depolymerization. The rate of pseudopod growth is determined by the rate of the process leading to network formation. This process is apparently an enzymatic type of reaction. It has a positive enthalpy change and, therefore, is endothermic.

Comparison of different drying procedures for scanning electron microscopy using human leukocytes.

Using human leukocytes as test specimens, three different drying procedures for scanning electron microscopy: critical-point drying (CPD), Peldri II, and tetramethylsilane (TMS), were compared. All three procedures produced identical surface morphology preservation. An equal amount of volume shrinkage was observed regardless of the dehydrants and drying techniques employed. Considering the simplicity, convenience, and time saved, air-drying with TMS is by far the best choice for preparing animal cells for scanning electron microscopy.

Experimental tests for protrusion and undulation pressures in phospholipid bilayers.

Theoretical treatments predict that strong entropic pressures between adjacent bilayer membranes can arise from out of plane motions caused by either thermally induced bending undulations of the entire bilayer [Harbich, W., & Helfrich, W. (1984) Chem. Phys. Lipids 36, 39-63; Evans, E. A., & Parsegian, V. A. (1986) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 83, 7132-7136] or protrusions of individual lipid molecules from the bilayer surface [Israelachvili, J. N., & Wennerström, H. (1992) J. Phys. Chem. 96, 520-531]. To determine the relative contributions of these motions to the repulsive pressure between phospholipid bilayers, the osmotic stress/X-ray diffraction method was used to measure the range and magnitude of the total repulsive pressure, and micropipet methods were used to measure the bending moduli of phosphatidylcholine bilayers containing lysophosphatidylcholine and polyunsaturated diarachidonoylphosphatidylcholine (DAPC) bilayers. In the gel phase, incorporation of equimolar lysophosphatidylcholine into phosphatidylcholine bilayers caused the hydrocarbon chains from apposing monolayers to interdigitate, but did not appreciably change the equilibrium fluid spacing in excess buffer from its control value of 12 A. In contrast, the incorporation of equimolar lysophosphatidylcholine into liquid-crystalline phase phosphatidylcholine bilayers markedly increased the range of the repulsive pressure so that equilibrium fluid separation increased from 15 to 28 A, and also decreased the bilayer bending modulus from 5.1 x 10(-13) to 1.3 x 10(-13) erg. Liquid-crystalline DAPC bilayers had intermediate values of both equilibrium fluid separation (20 A) and bending modulus (2.8 x 10(-13) erg). Analysis of these data indicates that (1) the relative importance of entropic pressures compared to the hydration pressure depends strongly on the composition and structure of the bilayer, (2) the protrusion pressure may contribute to the total repulsive pressure at large pressures or small fluid spacings, and (3) the repulsive undulation pressure, together with the attractive van der Waals pressure, is a primary factor in determining the fluid spacing at low and/or zero applied pressures in liquid-crystalline bilayers.

Mechanically stimulated cytoskeleton rearrangement and cortical contraction in human neutrophils.

A mechanical test with micropipets is used to characterize cytoskeleton rearrangement and contraction induced by mechanical stresses in human neutrophils. The yield shear resultant of the cell cortex is on the order of 0.06 to 0.09 mN.m-1. The measured yield shear resultant suggests that the neutrophil cortex is a weakly cross-linked structure. When a tether is pulled out from the cell surface, a polymer structure starts to fill it and spreads out from the cell body. The rate of advancement of the polymerization front is almost constant and, therefore, is not diffusion limited. The measured rate is much smaller than the one of spontaneous actin polymerization, suggesting that the limiting process is either the dissociation of actin monomers from their dimers with the capping proteins or the rate of formation of new nucleation sites or both. Polymerization is also observed after applying sufficient mechanical stresses on a small portion of the cell surface. The polymerization is followed by mass transfer from the cell into the prestressed region and later on by contraction of the main cell body. The pressure generating the flow is located in the prestressed region and most probably is a result of its "swelling" and contraction. The contraction of the main cell body is very similar (in its time dependence and magnitude) to the contraction during phagocytosis. The measured maximum cortical tension is on the order of 0.5 mN.m-1, which for a 3.5-microns diameter pipet corresponds to a maximum contraction force of 11 nN.

Lysolipid exchange with lipid vesicle membranes.

While the aqueous solubility for bilayer phospholipids is less than 10(-10) M--keeping lipid membranes at essentially constant mass, single chain surfactants can have a significant aqueous solubility. Thus, in surfactant solutions, both monomer and micelles can interact with a lipid bilayer, and the mass and composition of the bilayer can be changed in seconds. These changes in composition are expected to have direct consequences on bilayer structure and material properties. We have found that the exchange of surfactants like lysolecithin can be described in terms of a kinetic model in which monomer and micelles are transported to the membrane from bulk solution. Molecular transport is considered at the membrane interfaces and across the midplane between the two monolayers of the bilayer. Using micropipet manipulation, single vesicles were transferred into lysolecithin solutions, and the measurement of vesicle area change gave a direct measure of lysolecithin uptake. Transfer back to lysolecithin-free media resulted in desorption. The rates of uptake and desorption could therefore be measured at controlled levels of membrane stress. With increasing lysolecithin concentration in the bulk phase, the amount of lysolecithin in the membrane reached saturation at approximately 3 mol% for concentrations below the critical micelle concentration (CMC) and at > 30 mol% for concentrations above the CMC. When convective transport was used to deliver lysolecithin, uptake occurred via a double exponential: initial uptake into the outer monolayer was fast (approximately 0.2 sec-1); transfer across the bilayer midplane was much slower (0.0019 sec-1).

Role of the membrane cortex in neutrophil deformation in small pipets.

The simplest model for a neutrophil in its "passive" state views the cell as consisting of a liquid-like cytoplasmic region surrounded by a membrane. The cell surface is in a state of isotropic contraction, which causes the cell to assume a spherical shape. This contraction is characterized by the cortical tension. The cortical tension shows a weak area dilation dependence, and it determines the elastic properties of the cell for small curvature deformations. At high curvature deformations in small pipets (with internal radii less than 1 micron), the measured critical suction pressure for cell flow into the pipet is larger than its estimate from the law of Laplace. A model is proposed where the region consisting of the cytoplasm membrane and the underlying cortex (having a finite thickness) is introduced at the cell surface. The mechanical properties of this region are characterized by the apparent cortical tension (defined as a free contraction energy per unit area) and the apparent bending modulus (introduced as a bending free energy per unit area) of its middle plane. The model predicts that for small curvature deformations (in pipets having radii larger than 1.2 microns) the role of the cortical thickness and the resistance for bending of the membrane-cortex complex is negligible. For high curvature deformations, they lead to elevated suction pressures above the values predicted from the law of Laplace. The existence of elevated suction pressures for pipets with radii from 1 micron down to 0.24 micron is found experimentally. The measured excess suction pressures cannot be explained only by the modified law of Laplace (for a cortex with finite thickness and negligible bending resistance), because it predicts unacceptable high cortical thicknesses (from 0.3 to 0.7 micron). It is concluded that the membrane-cortex complex has an apparent bending modulus from 1 x 10(-18) to 2 x 10(-18) J for a cortex with a thickness from 0.1 micron down to values much smaller than the radius of the smallest pipet (0.24 micron) used in this study.

A novel micropipet method for measuring the bending modulus of vesicle membranes.

A theoretical model and an experiment are presented for determining the bending modulus of a bilayer vesicle membrane. The vesicle is held with a pipet having a radius between 1 and 2 microns, and the tension in the membrane is changed by changing the suction pressure. Then the vesicle membrane is deformed by aspirating it into a smaller pipet having a radius on the order of 0.5 microns. The relationship between the suction pressures in the two pipets is found to be linear, as predicted by the theoretical model. The curvature of the vesicle membrane at the pipet orifice and the bending modulus are found with the help of the model from the slope and the intercept of the linear experimental relationship between the suction pressures in the two pipets. The bending modulus for the two SOPC membranes studied in these experiments was found to be either 0.6 or 1.15 x 10(-19) J, which is similar to the values measured previously.

Numerical simulation of the flow of highly viscous drops down a tapered tube.

The flow of a highly viscous drop surrounded by an inviscid fluid inside a tapered tube is analyzed according to a Newtonian, liquid-drop model in which a variational method is used to simultaneously solve the hydrodynamic equations for low Reynolds-number flow and the equations for membrane equilibrium with a constant membrane tension. It is found that the flow in the end caps is plug and radial in the conical section of the drop. The results are compared to a simplified analytical theory that makes these assumptions. Very good agreement is found between the two approaches. Both approaches are used to analyze existing experimental results of passive neutrophils flowing down a tapered tube. The theoretical models give a good fit to published experimental data by Bagge et al. (1977) at driving pressures of 20 and 40 mm H2O for a membrane cortical tension of 0.024 dyn/cm and an apparent cytoplasmic viscosity of about 2400 and 1400 poise, respectively.

Electrical properties of cell pellets and cell electrofusion in a centrifuge.

A new approach is proposed for studying cell deformability by centrifugal force, electrical properties of cell membranes in a high electric field, and for performing efficient cell electrofusion. Suspensions of cells (L929 and four other cell types examined) are centrifuged in special chambers, thus forming compact cell pellets in the gap between the electrodes. The setup allows measurement of the pellet resistance and also the high-voltage pulse application during centrifugation. The pellet resistance increases sharply with the centripetal acceleration, which correlates with reduction of the cell pellet porosity due to cell compression and deformation. Experiments with cells pretreated with cytochalasin B or colcemid showed that cell deformability depends significantly on the state of cytoskeleton. When the voltage applied to the cell pellet exceeds a 'critical' value, electrical breakdown (poration) of cell membranes occurs. This is seen as a deflection in the I(V) curve for the cell pellet. The electropores formed during the breakdown reseal in several stages: the fastest takes 0.5-1 ms while the whole process completes in minutes. A novel effect of colloid-osmotic compression of cell pellets after electric cell permeabilization is described. Supercritical pulse application to the cell pellet during intensive centrifugation leads to massive cell fusion. The fusion index grows with the increase of centripetal acceleration, and drops drastically when the pulse is applied after the centrifuge is stopped. The colloid-osmotic pellet compression enhances the fusion efficiency. No fusion occurs when cells are brought in contact after the pulse treatment. The data suggest that tight intermembrane contact formed prior to pulse application is a prerequisite condition for efficient cell electrofusion. The capacities of the technique proposed and the mechanism of membrane electrofusion are discussed.

Tension-stabilized pores in giant vesicles: determination of pore size and pore line tension.

We present the first observations of giant, long-existing, stabilized pores in vesicle membranes. Using a new experimental technique for studying the electro-permeabilization of lipid membranes, giant liposomes (from 25 to 56 microns in diameter) were subjected to single, square, electric pulses (duration 150 microseconds and electric field strength from 63 to 126 kV/m). The liposomes were held by a micropipet and small membrane tensions were created by controlling the pipet suction pressure. The liposomes were loaded with media having different refractive index from the outside solution, and, under these conditions, the formation of pores in the pressurized liposome could be visualized by the jet of inside solution that flowed out from the membrane pore. By adjusting the membrane tension, pores were kept open, and pore lifetimes could be varied from tenths of a second to several seconds. The pore size was determined from the volumetric flow in the pore region and the measured pressure differences across the bilayer. It was clear from the experiments that only one pore remained opened after the pulse. The estimated pore radii were on the order of one micrometer. The pores were in a quasi-stationary state and when they closed they did so spontaneously in a quick process (in milliseconds). The isotropic membrane tension was determined for the same measurements and from determinations of both pore size and dynamic membrane tension the pore line tension was found. The line tension of the pore region was determined for two lipid compositions, stearoyl-oleoylphosphatidylcholine and stearoyl-oleoylphosphatidylcholine with 50 mol% cholesterol, and the obtained values for single bilayers were (0.92 +/- 0.07) x 10(-11) N and (3.05 +/- 0.12) x 10(-11) N, respectively.

Red blood cell dielectrophoresis in axisymmetric fields.

Dielectrophoretic velocities of human red blood cells in an axisymmetric field were measured as a function of the applied voltage and the distance from the axis of symmetry. The voltage of the alternating electric field (frequency 2 MHz), applied between two concentric cylindrical metal electrodes (outer and inner radii 0.24 and 1 mm, respectively), was varied up to 19 V. Two kinds of mediums were used: (a) 90% of 2.1% glycine solution and 10% of 5.5% glucose solution and (b) 5.4% sorbitol solution. The results have shown that in both mediums the cell velocities are proportional to the square of the applied voltage and inversely proportional to the cube of the distance from the axis of symmetry, as predicted by the theory. The coefficient of proportionality (dielectrophoretic coefficient) is on the order of 10(-25) A2S4kg-1. It depends on the donor of red blood cells and might be used for diagnostic purposes. These results will be used in future investigations of membrane adhesion, stability and fusion.

Stability of membrane systems modeled as multilayered viscoelastic films.

We have modeled interacting plane-parallel membranes as viscoelastic multilayered films. A linear dynamic analysis was used. It gave the general conditions for stability of membrane systems having an arbitrary number of membranes and films. The particular cases of one, two and three interacting layers were considered in detail. The results suggest a strong dependence of the stability of membrane systems on the interfacial tensions and the thickness of individual membranes and films and rather weak dependence on their viscosities and elasticities. The theoretical predictions are in semi-quantitative agreement with data on electrically induced membrane fusion in dielectrophoresis.