1. Academic Validation
  2. Evidence for the formation of symmetric and asymmetric DLPC-DAPC lipid bilayer domains

Evidence for the formation of symmetric and asymmetric DLPC-DAPC lipid bilayer domains

  • Cell Physiol Biochem. 2013;32(1):46-52. doi: 10.1159/000350122.
Markus Ritter 1 Sabine Schmidt Martin Jakab Markus Paulmichl Robert Henderson
Affiliations

Affiliation

  • 1 Institute of Physiology and Pathophysiology, Paracelsus Medical University Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria. markus.ritter@pmu.ac.at
Abstract

Background/aims: We investigated if mixtures of the phosphatidylcholine (PC) lipids 1,2-dilauroyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (C12:0 PC; DLPC) and 1,2-diarachidoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (C20:0 PC; DAPC), which differ by eight methylene groups in acyl chain length, lead to the spontaneous formation of distinct lipid rafts and asymmetric bilayers.

Methods: The experiments were performed using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM).

Results: We show that DLPC and DAPC mixed at a molar ratio of 1:1 lead to the formation of single, double and triple bilayers with peaks at 6.14 ± 0.11, 13.27 ± 0.17 and 20.54 ± 0.46 nm, respectively (n=750). Within these formations discrete height steps of 0.92 nm can be resolved (n=422).

Conclusion: The most frequently observed height steps value of 0.92 nm matches best with the calculated mean lipid hydrophobic thickness difference for asymmetric C12:0 PC and C20:0 PC lipid bilayers of 0.88 nm. This indicates the ability of DLPC and DAPC to form asymmetric lipid bilayers.

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