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Biophys J, September 2002, p. 1443-1454, Vol. 83, No. 3

Asymmetrical Membranes and Surface Tension

Mounir Traïkia,* Dror E. Warschawski,* Olivier Lambert,dagger Jean-Louis Rigaud,dagger and Philippe F. Devaux*

 *Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique, Unité Mixte de Recherche Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique 7099, Paris 75005 France; and  dagger Institut Curie, Section de Recherche, Unité Mixte de Recherche-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique 168 and Laboratoire de Recherche Correspondant-Commissariat à l'Energie Nucléaire 8, 75231 Paris cedex, France

The 31P-nuclear magnetic resonance chemical shift of phosphatidic acid in a membrane is sensitive to the lipid head group packing and can report qualitatively on membrane lateral compression near the aqueous interface. We have used high-resolution 31P-nuclear magnetic resonance to evaluate the lateral compression on each side of asymmetrical lipid vesicles. When monooleoylphosphatidylcholine was added to the external monolayer of sonicated vesicles containing dioleoylphosphatidylcholine and dioleoylphosphatidic acid, the variation of 31P chemical shift of phosphatidic acid indicated a lateral compression in the external monolayer. Simultaneously, a slight dilation was observed in the inner monolayer. In large unilamellar vesicles on the other hand the lateral pressure increased in both monolayers after asymmetrical insertion of monooleoylphosphatidylcholine. This can be explained by assuming that when monooleoylphosphatidylcholine is added to large unilamellar vesicles, the membrane bends until the strain is the same in both monolayers. In the case of sonicated vesicles, a change of curvature is not possible, and therefore differential packing in the two layers remains. We infer that a variation of lipid asymmetry by generating a lateral strain in the membrane can be a physiological way of modulating the conformation of membrane proteins.

Biophys J, September 2002, p. 1443-1454, Vol. 83, No. 3
© 2002 by the Biophysical Society   0006-3495/02/09/1443/12  $2.00


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