Diffusion in two-component lipid membranes - A Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy and Monte-Carlo simulation study
Agnieszka E. Hac 1, Heiko M. Seeger 2, Matthias Fidorra 1 and Thomas Heimburg 3*
1 Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen
2 MPI for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen, Germany
3 Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: theimbu{at}nbi.dk.
Submitted on January 28, 2004
Revised on April 28, 2004
Accepted on 19 October 2004
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Abstract |
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Using fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS), calorimetry and Monte-Carlo simulations, we studied diffusion processes in two-component membranes close to the chain melting transition. The aim is to describe complex diffusion behavior in lipid systems in which gel and fluid domains coexist. Diffusion processes in gel membranes are significantly slower than in fluid membranes. Diffusion processes in mixed phase regions are therefore expected to be complex. Due to statistical fluctuations the gel-fluid domain patterns are not uniform in space and time. No models for such diffusion processes are available. In this paper, which is both experimental and theoretical, we investigated the diffusion in DMPC-DSPC lipid mixtures as a function of temperature and composition. We then modeled the FCS experiment using Monte-Carlo simulations in order to analyze the diffusion process. It is shown, that the simulations yield a very good description of the experimental diffusion processes, and that predicted autocorrelation profiles are superimposable with the experimental curves. We believe that this study adds to the discussion on the physical nature of "rafts" found in biomembranes.
Key Words:
anomalous diffusion, confocal microscopy, domains, phase separation, rafts, relaxation
