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Structure of Lung-Mimetic Multilamellar Bodies with Lipid Compositions Relevant in Pneumonia

Steer, Dylan ; Leung, Sherry S.W. ; Meiselman, Hannah and Topgaard, Daniel LU (2018) In Langmuir 34(25). p.7561-7574
Abstract

The hierarchical assembly of lipids, as modulated by composition and environment, plays a significant role in the function of biological membranes and a myriad of diseases. Elevated concentrations of calcium ions and cardiolipin (CL), an anionic tetra-alkyl lipid found in mitochondria and some bacterial cell membranes, have been implicated in pneumonia recently. However, their impact on the physicochemical properties of lipid assemblies in lungs and how it impairs alveoli function is still unknown. We use small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering (S/WAXS) and solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (ssNMR) to probe the structure and dynamics of lung-mimetic multilamellar bodies (MLBs) in the presence of Ca2+ and CL. We conjecture... (More)

The hierarchical assembly of lipids, as modulated by composition and environment, plays a significant role in the function of biological membranes and a myriad of diseases. Elevated concentrations of calcium ions and cardiolipin (CL), an anionic tetra-alkyl lipid found in mitochondria and some bacterial cell membranes, have been implicated in pneumonia recently. However, their impact on the physicochemical properties of lipid assemblies in lungs and how it impairs alveoli function is still unknown. We use small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering (S/WAXS) and solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (ssNMR) to probe the structure and dynamics of lung-mimetic multilamellar bodies (MLBs) in the presence of Ca2+ and CL. We conjecture that CL overexpressed in the hypophase of alveoli strongly affects the structure of lung-lipid bilayers and their stacking in the MLBs. Specifically, S/WAXS data revealed that CL induces significant shrinkage of the water-layer separating the concentric bilayers in multilamellar aggregates. ssNMR measurements indicate that this interbilayer tightening is due to undulation repulsion damping as CL renders the glycerol backbone of the membranes significantly more static. In addition to MLB dehydration, CL promotes intrabilayer phase separation into saturated-rich and unsaturated-rich lipid domains that couple across multiple layers. Expectedly, addition of Ca2+ screens the electrostatic repulsion between negatively charged lung membranes. However, when CL is present, addition of Ca2+ results in an apparent interbilayer expansion likely due to local structural defects. Combining S/WAXS and ssNMR on systems with compositions pertinent to healthy and unhealthy lung membranes, we propose how alteration of the physiochemical properties of MLBs can critically impact the breathing cycle.

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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Langmuir
volume
34
issue
25
pages
14 pages
publisher
The American Chemical Society (ACS)
external identifiers
  • pmid:29847137
  • scopus:85048000034
ISSN
0743-7463
DOI
10.1021/acs.langmuir.8b01359
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
53cfaa86-f2d8-4a54-a9f1-02ac51b07325
date added to LUP
2022-03-29 14:49:39
date last changed
2024-04-10 10:00:21
@article{53cfaa86-f2d8-4a54-a9f1-02ac51b07325,
  abstract     = {{<p>The hierarchical assembly of lipids, as modulated by composition and environment, plays a significant role in the function of biological membranes and a myriad of diseases. Elevated concentrations of calcium ions and cardiolipin (CL), an anionic tetra-alkyl lipid found in mitochondria and some bacterial cell membranes, have been implicated in pneumonia recently. However, their impact on the physicochemical properties of lipid assemblies in lungs and how it impairs alveoli function is still unknown. We use small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering (S/WAXS) and solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (ssNMR) to probe the structure and dynamics of lung-mimetic multilamellar bodies (MLBs) in the presence of Ca<sup>2+</sup> and CL. We conjecture that CL overexpressed in the hypophase of alveoli strongly affects the structure of lung-lipid bilayers and their stacking in the MLBs. Specifically, S/WAXS data revealed that CL induces significant shrinkage of the water-layer separating the concentric bilayers in multilamellar aggregates. ssNMR measurements indicate that this interbilayer tightening is due to undulation repulsion damping as CL renders the glycerol backbone of the membranes significantly more static. In addition to MLB dehydration, CL promotes intrabilayer phase separation into saturated-rich and unsaturated-rich lipid domains that couple across multiple layers. Expectedly, addition of Ca<sup>2+</sup> screens the electrostatic repulsion between negatively charged lung membranes. However, when CL is present, addition of Ca<sup>2+</sup> results in an apparent interbilayer expansion likely due to local structural defects. Combining S/WAXS and ssNMR on systems with compositions pertinent to healthy and unhealthy lung membranes, we propose how alteration of the physiochemical properties of MLBs can critically impact the breathing cycle.</p>}},
  author       = {{Steer, Dylan and Leung, Sherry S.W. and Meiselman, Hannah and Topgaard, Daniel}},
  issn         = {{0743-7463}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{25}},
  pages        = {{7561--7574}},
  publisher    = {{The American Chemical Society (ACS)}},
  series       = {{Langmuir}},
  title        = {{Structure of Lung-Mimetic Multilamellar Bodies with Lipid Compositions Relevant in Pneumonia}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.langmuir.8b01359}},
  doi          = {{10.1021/acs.langmuir.8b01359}},
  volume       = {{34}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}