A hydrophobic light-driven rotary motor is functionalized with two 18-crown-6 macrocycles and incorporated into phospholipid bilayers. In the presence of this molecular construct, fluorescence assays and patch clamp experiments show the formation of selective alkali ion channels through the membrane. Further, they reveal a strongly accelerated ion transport mechanism under light irradiation. This increase of the fractional ion transport activity (up to 400%) is attributed to the out-of-equilibrium actuation dynamics of the light-driven rotary motors, which help to overcome the activation energy necessary to achieve translocation of alkali ions between macrocycles along the artificial channels.
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Front Mol Biosci
January 2025
Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, United States.
This study investigates the dynamics of oleate hydratase (OhyA), a bacterial flavoenzyme from , and its interactions with lipid membranes, focusing on the factors influencing membrane binding and oligomerization. OhyA catalyzes the hydration of unsaturated fatty acids, playing a key role in bacterial pathogenesis by neutralizing host antimicrobial fatty acids. OhyA binds the membrane bilayer to access membrane-embedded substrates for catalysis, and structural studies have revealed that OhyA forms oligomers on membrane surfaces, stabilized by both protein-protein and protein-lipid interactions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPLoS One
January 2025
Key Laboratory of Tropical Biological Resources of Ministry of Education, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hainan University, Haikou, China.
Electroporation and electrofusion are efficient methods, which have been widely used in different areas of biotechnology and medicine. Pulse strength and width, as an external condition, play an important role in the process of these methods. However, comparatively little work has been done to explore the effects of pulsed electric field parameters on electroporation and electrofusion.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiophys Rev
December 2024
Laboratorio de BioNanotecnología, Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad Nacional de Quilmes, Bernal, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Synthetic lipids have been studied as components in membrane models and drug delivery systems. Polymerizable phospholipids, especially photosensitive ones, can form new bilayer bonds when UV light irradiates. These phospholipids have been known since the 1980s, but in the last few years, new applications have been highlighted.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFα-Synuclein (αSyn), an intrinsically disordered protein implicated in Parkinson's disease, is potentially thought to initiate aggregation through binding to cellular membranes. Previous studies have suggested that anionic membrane charge is necessary for this binding. However, these studies largely focus on unmodified αSyn, while nearly all αSyn in the body is N-terminally acetylated (NTA).
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January 2025
Department of Chemistry, University of Utah, 315 South 1400 East, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112-0850, United States.
Modification of silica interfaces by covalent attachment of functional ligands is a primary means of controlling the interfacial chemistry of porous silicas used in separations, environmental cleanup, and biosensing. Recently, modification of hydrophobic, -alkyl-silane-functionalized interfaces has been achieved through self-assembly of zwitterionic phospholipids or mixed-charged surfactants to form "hybrid bilayers", producing interfaces that mimic lipid-bilayer partitioning and provide shape-selective partitioning of aromatic hydrocarbons. Charged headgroups, however, introduce electrostatic interactions that strongly influence the retention of ionizable solutes and require careful control over pH and ionic strength in the solution phase.
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