Probing Dynamics in Lipid Membranes with Photosensitive Cholesterol Derivatives
The dynamics of lipid molecules in a membrane comprises several modes like rotations, individual and collective fluctuations, and also lateral diffusion. These depend on the thermodynamic state of the two-dimensional membrane as a confinement and exhibit their peculiar time window. We propose a project on a model active membrane consisting of a well-known basic lipid matrix (1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-phosphatidylcholine, POPC) hosting a lipoid effector. The effector is a cholesterol derivative - azobenzene-cholesterol - inserted into the matrix. Its hydrophobic part resembles cholesterol but it carries a photosensitive azobenzene group that in the polar region of the host bilayer. Upon light excitation, the reversible trans-cis transition of this active group exerts a momentum within the headgroup region. This disturbance is propagated into the core region, modulating the structure and the dynamics within the lipid layer. The membrane equilibrates into either of two end states, depending on the trans- or cis conformation of the effector. Here we seek to provide experimental evidence on the detailed modified dynamical properties of the membrane due to the presence of the active compound.
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PIEPER Joerg; CRISTIGLIO Viviana; Beate Klösgen; OLLIVIER Jacques; PETERS Judith and SHEN Chen. (2015). Probing Dynamics in Lipid Membranes with Photosensitive Cholesterol Derivatives. Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) doi:10.5291/ILL-DATA.9-13-571