Hydration Layer of Only a Few Molecules Controls Lipid Mobility in Biomimetic Membranes.

ABSTRACT: Self-assembly of biomembranes results from the intricate interactions between water and the lipids' hydrophilic head groups. Therefore, the lipid-water interplay strongly contributes to modulating membrane architecture, lipid diffusion, and chemical activity. Here, we introduce a new method of obtaining dehydrated, phase-separated, supported lipid bilayers (SLBs) solely by controlling the decrease of their environment's relative humidity. This facilitates the study of the structure and dynamics of SLBs over a wide range of hydration states. We show that the lipid domain structure of phase-separated SLBs is largely insensitive to the presence of the hydration layer. In stark contrast, lipid mobility is drastically affected by dehydration, showing a 6-fold decrease in lateral diffusion. At t

SUBMITTER: Chattopadhyay M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8447254 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature