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APS » Journals » Phys. Rev. Lett. » Volume 93 » Issue 2
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 028101 (2004) [4 pages]

Lipid Corralling and Poloxamer Squeeze-Out in Membranes

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Guohui Wu1, Jaroslaw Majewski2, Canay Ege1, Kristian Kjaer3, Markus Jan Weygand3, and Ka Yee C. Lee1
1Department of Chemistry, The Institute for Biophysical Dynamics & The James Franck Institute, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA
2Manuel Lujan, Jr. Neutron Scattering Center, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA
3Materials Research Department, Risø National Laboratory, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark

Received 26 August 2003; published 7 July 2004

Using x-ray scattering measurements we have quantitatively determined the effect of poloxamer 188 (P188), a polymer known to seal damaged membranes, on the structure of lipid monolayers. P188 selectively inserts into low lipid-density regions of the membrane and “corrals” lipid molecules to pack tightly, leading to unexpected Bragg peaks at low nominal lipid density and inducing lipid/poloxamer phase separation. At tighter lipid packing, the once inserted P188 is squeezed out, allowing the poloxamer to gracefully exit when the membrane integrity is restored.

© 2004 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.93.028101
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.93.028101
PACS:
87.15.Kg, 61.10.Kw, 68.03.–g, 68.55.Jk
 
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