Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Tween-20 Induces the Structural Remodeling of Single Lipid Vesicles

2022; American Chemical Society; Volume: 13; Issue: 23 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1021/acs.jpclett.2c00704

1948-7185

Lara Dresser, Sarah Graham, Lisa Miller, Charley Schaefer, Donato Conteduca, Steven D. Johnson, Mark C. Leake, Steven D. Quinn,

Nanopore and Nanochannel Transport Studies

The solubilization of lipid membranes by Tween-20 is crucial for a number of biotechnological applications, but the mechanistic details remain elusive. Evidence from ensemble assays supports a solubilization model that encompasses surfactant association with the membrane and the release of mixed micelles to solution, but whether this process also involves intermediate transitions between regimes is unanswered. In search of mechanistic origins, increasing focus is placed on identifying Tween-20 interactions with controllable membrane mimetics. Here, we employed ultrasensitive biosensing approaches, including single-vesicle spectroscopy based on fluorescence and energy transfer from membrane-encapsulated molecules, to interrogate interactions between Tween-20 and submicrometer-sized vesicles below the optical diffraction limit. We discovered that Tween-20, even at concentrations below the critical micellar concentration, triggers stepwise and phase-dependent structural remodeling events, including permeabilization and swelling, in both freely diffusing and surface-tethered vesicles, highlighting the substantial impact the surfactant has on vesicle conformation and stability prior to lysis.