Membrane photobiophysics and photochemistry

Abstract

Life, as we know it, depends on solar energy, in particular in the visible range of the solar spectrum. However, visible light alone is useless to the living organism unless a means is available for its capture, transformation, and utilization. Nature, through its long evolution, has perfected a process known as photosynthesis by which visible light is transduced into electrical/ chemical energy. However, the heart of Nature's energy transducer is the thylakoid membrane whose molecular organization was not known until early in the 1960s. Then it was established that the bilayer lipid membrane was central to the design of the thylakoid membrane. To explain the light-driven reactions from water oxidation to carbon dioxide reduction, the so-called Z-scheme was proposed. Concurrent with the establishment of Mitchell's Chemiosmotic Hypothesis for electron transfer and phosphorylation, the experimental bilayer lipid membrane (BLM) system was developed in 1960. But what are the fundamental biophysical mechanisms involved in the phototransduction via pigmented bilayer lipid membrane-based transducers? One of the main purposes of this review is to consider these questions. A second main purpose is to introduce to the reader the experimental aspects of lipid bilayers in the investigation of photoactive biomembranes. The areas covered in this review include a brief summary of the laws of photochemistry relevant to membrane photobiophysics and photobiology. The current exploitation of the BLM system in relation to the thylakoid membrane and to the visual receptor membrane will be considered in turn. The purple membrane of H. Halobium is then discussed. Consideration will also be given to dye-sensitized BLMs, semiconducting BLMs, and BLMs formed from liquid crystals. A common characteristic in the topics covered in this review is the desire to stimulate further studies in the use of the BLM system, not only for the fundamental understanding of biomembranes, but also towards practical applications. Thus, the insight gained from pigmented BLM studies has now been applied to artificial photosynthesis for solar energy conversion.