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Rhamnolipids (RLs) are biosurfactants with significant tensioactive and emulsifying properties. They are mainly composed by mono-RL and di-RL components. Although there are numerous studies concerning their molecular properties, information is scarce regarding the mechanisms by which each of the two components interacts with cell membranes. Herein, we performed phase-contrast and fluorescence microscopy experiments on plasma membrane models represented by giant-unilamellar-vesicles (GUVs) composed of 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DOPC), 2-[[(E,2S,3R)-1,3-dihydroxy-2-(octadecanoylamino) octadec-4-enyl]peroxy-hydroxyphosphoryl]oxyethyl-trimethylazanium (sphingomyelin, SM) and (3β)-cholest-5-en-3-ol (cholesterol, CHOL) (1:1:1 M ratio), which present liquid-order (L o ) liquid-disorder (L d ) phase coexistence, in the presence of either mono-RL or di-RL in 0.06-0.25 mM concentration range. A new method has been developed to determine area and volume of GUVs with asymmetrical shape and a kinetic model describing GUV-RL interaction in terms of two mechanisms, RL-insertion and pore formation, has been worked out. Results show that the insertion of mono-RL in the membrane outer leaflet is the dominant process with no pore formation and a negligible effect in modifying membrane permeability, but induces lipid mixing. Conversely, the di-RL-GUV interaction begins with the insertion mechanism and, as the time passes by, the pore formation process occurs. The analyses of di-RL show that the whole process is only relevant in the L d phase with a higher extent to 0.25 mM than to 0.06 mM., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Pterins are natural products that can photosensitize the oxidation of DNA, proteins, and phospholipids. Recently, a new series of decyl-chain (i.e., lipophilic) pterins were synthesized and their photophysical properties were investigated. These decyl-pterins led to efficient intercalation in large unilamellar vesicles and produced, under UVA irradiation, singlet molecular oxygen, a highly oxidative species that react with polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) to form hydroperoxides. Here, we demonstrate that the association of 4-(decyloxy)pteridin-2-amine ( O-decyl-Ptr) to lipid membranes is key to its ability to trigger phospholipid oxidation in unilamellar vesicles of phosphatidylcholine rich in PUFAs used as model biomembranes. Our results show that O-decyl-Ptr is at least 1 order of magnitude more efficient photosensitizer of lipids than pterin (Ptr), the unsubstituted derivative of the pterin family, which is more hydrophilic and freely passes across lipid membranes. Lipid peroxidation photosensitized by O-decyl-Ptr was detected by the formation of conjugated dienes and oxidized lipids, such as hydroxy and hydroperoxide derivatives. These primary products undergo a rapid conversion into short-chain secondary products by cleavage of the fatty-acid chains, some of which are due to subsequent photosensitized reactions. As a consequence, a fast increase in membrane permeability is observed. Therefore, lipid oxidation induced by O-decyl-Ptr could promote cell photodamage due to the biomembrane integrity loss, which in turn may trigger cell death.

We report small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) data from large unilamellar vesicles as model membranes composed of 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocoline (POPC) and two oxidized species, namely its hydroperoxidized form POPC-OOH and 1-palmitoyl-2-azelaoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (PazePC) lipid that has a carboxyl group at the end of its truncated sn-2 chain. The replacement of POPC by either POPC-OOH (POPC-OOH x POPC 1-x ) or PazePC (PazePC x POPC 1-x ), with oxidized lipid molar ratio x varying from 0.00 up to 1.00, permits to experimentally inspect changes in the membrane structural properties due to oxidation. The volume fraction distribution of each lipid chemical group along the bilayer is determined. The results quantify that 95% of the hydroperoxide group lies in the membrane polar moiety, near the carbonyl and phosphate groups, whereas just 5% of OOH group experiences the polar/apolar interface, for all values of x studied. In the case of PazePC up to x = 0.33, a bimodal distribution of the carboxyl group in the interior and polar regions of the lipid membrane is obtained, probably due to a dynamic movement of the shortened alkyl chain towards the water interface. The mean molecular area A gradually increases from 65.4 ± 0.4 Å 2 for POPC bilayers to 78 ± 2 Å 2 for pure POPC-OOH bilayers, whereas POPC-OOH membrane thickness resulted to be 20% thinner than the non-oxidized POPC membrane. For PazePC up to x = 0.33, A increases to 67 ± 2 Å 2 with 10% of membrane thinning. The SAXS results thus demonstrate how the lipid oxidation progress affects the membrane structural features, thus paving the way to better understand membrane damage under oxidative stress., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

We have prepared a chitosan polymer modified with gallic acid in order to develop an efficient protection strategy biological membranes against photodamage. Lipid bilayers were challenged with photoinduced damage by photosensitization with methylene blue, which usually causes formation of hydroperoxides, increasing area per lipid, and afterwards allowing leakage of internal materials. The damage was delayed by a solution of gallic acid in a concentration dependent manner, but further suppressed by the polymer at very low concentrations. The membrane of giant unilamellar vesicles was covered with this modified macromolecule leading to a powerful shield against singlet oxygen and thus effectively protecting the lipid membrane from oxidative stress. The results have proven the discovery of a promising strategy for photo protection of biological membranes., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Oxidation can intimately influence and structurally compromise the levels of biological self-assembly embodied by intracellular and plasma membranes. Lipid peroxidation, a natural metabolic outcome of life with oxygen under light, is also a salient oxidation reaction in photomedicine treatments. However, the effect of peroxidation on the fate of lipid membranes remains elusive. Here we use a new photosensitizer that anchors and disperses in the membrane to achieve spatial control of the oxidizing species. We find, surprisingly, that the integrity of unsaturated unilamellar vesicles is preserved even for fully oxidized membranes. Membrane survival allows for the quantification of the transformations of the peroxidized bilayers, providing key physical and chemical information to understand the effect of lipid oxidation on protein insertion and on other mechanisms of cell function. We anticipate that spatially controlled oxidation will emerge as a new powerful strategy for tuning and evaluating lipid membranes in biomimetic media under oxidative stress.

Crotamine is one of the main constituents of the venom of the South American rattlesnake Crotalus durissus terrificus. A common gene ancestry and structural similarity with the antimicrobial β-defensins (identical disulfide bond pattern and highly positive net charge) suggested potential antimicrobial activities for this snake toxin. Although crotamine demonstrated low activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, a pronounced antifungal activity was observed against Candida spp., Trichosporon spp., and Cryptococcus neoformans. Crotamine's selective antimicrobial properties, with no observable hemolytic activity, stimulated us to evaluate the potential applications of this polypeptide as an antiyeast or candicidal agent for medical and industrial application. Aiming to understand the mechanism(s) of action underlying crotamine antimicrobial activity and its selectivity for fungi, we present herein studies using membrane model systems (i.e., large unilamellar vesicles, LUVs, and giant unilamellar vesicles, GUVs), with different phospholipid compositions. We show here that crotamine presents a higher lytic activity on negatively charged membranes compared with neutral membranes, with or without cholesterol or ergosterol content. The vesicle burst was not preceded by membrane permeabilization as is generally observed for pore forming peptides. Although such a property of disrupting lipid membranes is very important to combat multiresistant fungi, no inhibitory activity was observed for crotamine against biofilms formed by several Candida spp. strains, except for a limited effect against C. krusei biofilm.

In this study we pursue a closer analysis of the photodamage promoted on giant unilamellar vesicles membranes made of dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DOPC) or 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC), by irradiating methylene blue present in the giant unilamellar vesicles solution. By means of optical microscopy and electro-deformation experiments, the physical damage on the vesicle membrane was followed and the phospholipids oxidation was evaluated in terms of changes in the membrane surface area and permeability. As expected, oxidation modifies structural characteristics of the phospholipids that lead to remarkable membrane alterations. By comparing DOPC- with POPC-made membranes, we observed that the rate of pore formation and vesicle degradation as a function of methylene blue concentration follows a diffusion law in the case of DOPC and a linear variation in the case of POPC. We attributed this scenario to the nucleation process of oxidized species following a diffusion-limited growth regime for DOPC and in the case of POPC a homogeneous nucleation process. On the basis of these premises, we constructed models based on reaction-diffusion equations that fit well with the experimental data. This information shows that the outcome of the photosensitization reactions is critically dependent on the type of lipid present in the membrane., (Copyright © 2014 Biophysical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Giant unilamellar vesicles or GUVs are systems of choice as biomimetic models of cellular membranes. Although a variety of procedures exist for making single walled vesicles of tens of microns in size, the range of lipid compositions that can be used to grow GUVs by the conventional methods is quite limited, and many of the available methods involve energy input that can damage the lipids or other molecules present in the growing solution for embedment in the membrane or in the vesicle interior. Here, we show that a wide variety of lipids or lipid mixtures can grow into GUVs by swelling lipid precursor films on top of a dried polyvinyl alcohol gel surface in a swelling buffer that can contain diverse biorelevant molecules. Moreover, we show that the encapsulation potential of this method can be enhanced by combining polyvinyl alcohol-mediated growth with inverse-phase methods, which allow (bio)molecule complexation with the lipids., (Copyright © 2013 Biophysical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Using phase contrast and fluorescence microscopy we study the influence of the alkylphospholipid, ALP, 10-(octyloxy) decyl-2-(trimethylammonium) ethyl phosphate, ODPC, in giant unilamellar vesicles, GUVs, composed of DOPC (1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine), brain sphingomyelin (SM) and cholesterol (Chol). The results show that adding 100μM ODPC (below CMC) to the outer solution of GUVs promotes DOPC membrane disruption over a period of 1h of continuous observation. On the other hand, the presence of SM and Chol in homogeneous fluid lipid bilayers protects the membrane from disruption. Interestingly, by adding 100μM ODPC to GUVs containing DOPC:SM:Chol (1:1:1), which display liquid ordered (Lo)-liquid disordered (Ld) phase coexistence, the domains rapidly disappear in less than 1min of ODPC contact with the membrane. The lipids are subsequently redistributed to liquid domains within a time course of 14-18min, reflecting that the homogenous phase was not thermodynamically stable, followed by rupture of the GUVs. A similar mechanism of action is also observed for perifosine, although to a larger extent. Therefore, the initial stage of lipid raft disruption by both ODPC and perifosine, and maybe other ALPS, by promoting lipid mixing, may be correlated with their toxicity upon neoplastic cells, since selective (dis)association of essential proteins within lipid raft microdomains must take place in the plasma membrane., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The solubilization of lipid bilayers by detergents was studied with optical microscopy of giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) composed of palmitoyl oleoyl phosphatidylcholine (POPC). A solution of the detergents Triton X-100 (TX-100) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) was injected with a micropipette close to single GUVs. The solubilization process was observed with phase contrast and fluorescence microscopy and found to be dependent on the detergent nature. In the presence of TX-100, GUVs initially showed an increase in their surface area, due to insertion of TX-100 with rapid equilibration between the two leaflets of the bilayer. Then, above a solubility threshold, several holes opened, rendering the bilayer a lace fabric appearance, and the bilayer gradually vanished. On the other hand, injection of SDS caused initially an increase in the membrane spontaneous curvature, which is mainly associated with incorporation of SDS in the outer layer only. This created a stress in the membrane, which caused either opening of transient macropores with substantial decrease in vesicle size or complete vesicle bursting. In another experimental setup, the extent of solubilization/destruction of a collection of GUVs was measured as a function of either TX-100 or SDS concentration.

We have synthesized the amphiphile photosensitizer PE-porph consisting of a porphyrin bound to a lipid headgroup. We studied by optical microscopy the response to light irradiation of giant unilamellar vesicles of mixtures of unsaturated phosphatidylcholine lipids and PE-porph. In this configuration, singlet oxygen is produced at the bilayer surface by the anchored porphyrin. Under irradiation, the PE-porph decorated giant unilamellar vesicles exhibit a rapid increase in surface area with concomitant morphological changes. We quantify the surface area increase of the bilayers as a function of time and photosensitizer molar fraction. We attribute this expansion to hydroperoxide formation by the reaction of the singlet oxygen with the unsaturated bonds. Considering data from numeric simulations of relative area increase per phospholipid oxidized (15%), we measure the efficiency of the oxidative reactions. We conclude that for every 270 singlet oxygen molecules produced by the layer of anchored porphyrins, one eventually reacts to generate a hydroperoxide species. Remarkably, the integrity of the membrane is preserved in the full experimental range explored here, up to a hydroperoxide content of 60%, inducing an 8% relative area expansion.