Abstract
Thermally induced shape fluctuations were used to study elastic properties of giant vesicles composed of archaeal lipids C25,25-archetidyl (glucosyl) inositol and C25,25-archetidylinositol isolated from lyophilised Aeropyrum pernix K1 cells. Giant vesicles were created by electroformation in pure water environment. Stroboscopic illumination using a xenon flash lamp was implemented to remove the blur effect due to the finite integration time of the camera and to obtain an instant picture of the fluctuating vesicle shape. The mean weighted value of the bending elasticity modulus kc of the archaeal membrane determined from the measurements meeting the entire set of qualification criteria was (1.89 ± 0.18) × 10−19 J, which is similar to the values obtained for a membrane composed of the eukaryotic phospholipids SOPC (1.88 ± 0.17) × 10−19 J and POPC (2.00 ± 0.21) × 10−19 J. We conclude that membranes composed of archaeal lipids isolated from Aeropyrum pernix K1 cells have similar elastic properties as membranes composed of eukaryotic lipids. This fact, together with the importance of the elastic properties for the normal circulation through blood system, provides further evidence in favor of expectations that archaeal lipids could be appropriate for the design of drug delivery systems.
Highlights
Archaeal diether lipids are recently attracting increased interest due to their potential role as drugs, genes, or cancer imaging agents [1]
After the first detailed theoretical model of thermally induced shape fluctuations was proposed by Milner and Safran [29], experimental procedures based on the analysis of thermally induced shape fluctuations of quasi-spherical vesicles were developed for precise measurements of the bending elastic modulus [23,30]
The analysis of thermally induced shape fluctuations of giant vesicles was used to determine the bending elasticity modulus of giant vesicles composed of archaeal lipids
Summary
Archaeal diether lipids are recently attracting increased interest due to their potential role as drugs, genes, or cancer imaging agents [1]. In comparison with eukaryotic phospholipids, archaeal diether phospholipids contain branched fully saturated chains which are linked to glycerol with ether bonds [2]. The isolated polar lipids of A. pernix consist solely of 2,3-di-Osesterterpanyl-sn-glycerol (C25,25-archaeol) Their two major polar lipids are 2,3-di-O-sesterterpanyl-snglycerol-1-phospho-1'-(2'-O- -D-glucosyl)-myo-inositol (C25,25-archaetidyl (glucosyl) inositol; AGI; about. Statistical mechanical derivation of the phospholipid bilayer membrane free energy [19,20] links thermodynamic bending elasticity modulus of the membrane kc [21] to the microscopic properties of the constituents. A change in the bending elasticity modulus between resting and activated forms is found for different cell types, which is another evidence for the role of the elastic properties for the proper functioning of biological cell [22].
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