Glucose Can Protect Membranes against Dehydration Damage by Inducing a Glassy Membrane State at Low Hydrations
The physical effects of small sugars on membranes have been studied for decades, primarily because of their membrane stabilization in cold or dehydrated environments. We studied the effects of up to 20 mol% glucose in bilayers made of 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPC) at low hydrati...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2019-01-01
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| Series: | Membranes |
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| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/2077-0375/9/1/15 |
| _version_ | 1797708461903970304 |
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| author | Alexander Dhaliwal Adree Khondker Richard Alsop Maikel C. Rheinstädter |
| author_facet | Alexander Dhaliwal Adree Khondker Richard Alsop Maikel C. Rheinstädter |
| author_sort | Alexander Dhaliwal |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The physical effects of small sugars on membranes have been studied for decades, primarily because of their membrane stabilization in cold or dehydrated environments. We studied the effects of up to 20 mol% glucose in bilayers made of 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPC) at low hydration by combining X-ray diffraction and Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations. In agreement with previous studies, we observe membrane thinning at low and membrane thickening at high sugar concentrations. Glucose was found to preferentially localize to the outer head region of phospholipid bilayers at all concentrations, and partitioning of sugar in the membranes was found to monotonically increase with increasing sugar concentration. While the number of gauche defects in the lipid acyl tails and the lipid packing in the presence of sugar resembled values of a fluid lipid bilayer, tail dynamics, as assessed by autocorrelation of the carbon atoms in the phospholipid tails, were slowed down significantly with increasing glucose content. Thus, our findings suggest that sugar leads to a a disordered, glassy state of the hydrophobic membrane core. The non-monotonic effect of glucose on membrane thickness was found to be an effect of fluidification at low concentrations and decreased interdigitation in the higher sugar concentration regime. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T06:22:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8282127ad28e4cb0a3dc4367e3bc8e14 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-0375 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T06:22:03Z |
| publishDate | 2019-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Membranes |
| spelling | doaj.art-8282127ad28e4cb0a3dc4367e3bc8e142023-09-03T02:10:16ZengMDPI AGMembranes2077-03752019-01-01911510.3390/membranes9010015membranes9010015Glucose Can Protect Membranes against Dehydration Damage by Inducing a Glassy Membrane State at Low HydrationsAlexander Dhaliwal0Adree Khondker1Richard Alsop2Maikel C. Rheinstädter3Department of Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8S 4M1, CanadaDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8S 4M1, CanadaDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8S 4M1, CanadaDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8S 4M1, CanadaThe physical effects of small sugars on membranes have been studied for decades, primarily because of their membrane stabilization in cold or dehydrated environments. We studied the effects of up to 20 mol% glucose in bilayers made of 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPC) at low hydration by combining X-ray diffraction and Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations. In agreement with previous studies, we observe membrane thinning at low and membrane thickening at high sugar concentrations. Glucose was found to preferentially localize to the outer head region of phospholipid bilayers at all concentrations, and partitioning of sugar in the membranes was found to monotonically increase with increasing sugar concentration. While the number of gauche defects in the lipid acyl tails and the lipid packing in the presence of sugar resembled values of a fluid lipid bilayer, tail dynamics, as assessed by autocorrelation of the carbon atoms in the phospholipid tails, were slowed down significantly with increasing glucose content. Thus, our findings suggest that sugar leads to a a disordered, glassy state of the hydrophobic membrane core. The non-monotonic effect of glucose on membrane thickness was found to be an effect of fluidification at low concentrations and decreased interdigitation in the higher sugar concentration regime.http://www.mdpi.com/2077-0375/9/1/15glucoselipid membranessugar-membrane interactionsX-ray diffractionmolecular dynamics simulations |
| spellingShingle | Alexander Dhaliwal Adree Khondker Richard Alsop Maikel C. Rheinstädter Glucose Can Protect Membranes against Dehydration Damage by Inducing a Glassy Membrane State at Low Hydrations Membranes glucose lipid membranes sugar-membrane interactions X-ray diffraction molecular dynamics simulations |
| title | Glucose Can Protect Membranes against Dehydration Damage by Inducing a Glassy Membrane State at Low Hydrations |
| title_full | Glucose Can Protect Membranes against Dehydration Damage by Inducing a Glassy Membrane State at Low Hydrations |
| title_fullStr | Glucose Can Protect Membranes against Dehydration Damage by Inducing a Glassy Membrane State at Low Hydrations |
| title_full_unstemmed | Glucose Can Protect Membranes against Dehydration Damage by Inducing a Glassy Membrane State at Low Hydrations |
| title_short | Glucose Can Protect Membranes against Dehydration Damage by Inducing a Glassy Membrane State at Low Hydrations |
| title_sort | glucose can protect membranes against dehydration damage by inducing a glassy membrane state at low hydrations |
| topic | glucose lipid membranes sugar-membrane interactions X-ray diffraction molecular dynamics simulations |
| url | http://www.mdpi.com/2077-0375/9/1/15 |
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