The interplay between membrane viscosity and ligand-binding receptor kinetics in lipid bilayers

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Bernard, Chiara, Carotenuto, Angelo Rosario, Pugno, Nicola Maria, Deseri, Luca, Fraldi, Massimiliano
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Bernard, Chiara
Carotenuto, Angelo Rosario
Pugno, Nicola Maria
Deseri, Luca
Fraldi, Massimiliano
author_facet Bernard, Chiara
Carotenuto, Angelo Rosario
Pugno, Nicola Maria
Deseri, Luca
Fraldi, Massimiliano
contents Plasma membranes appear as deformable systems wherein molecules are free to move and diffuse giving rise to condensed microdomains (composed of ordered lipids, transmembrane proteins and cholesterol) surrounded by disordered lipid molecules. Such denser and thicker regions, namely lipid rafts, are important communication hubs for cells. Indeed, recent experiments revealed how the most of active signaling proteins co-localize on such domains, thereby intensifying the biochemical trafficking of substances. From a material standpoint, it is reasonable to assume the bilayer as a visco-elastic body accounting for both in-plane fluidity and elasticity. Consequently, lipid rafts contribute to membrane heterogeneity by typically exhibiting higher stiffness and viscosity and by locally altering the bilayer dynamics and proteins activity. A chemo-mechanical model of lipid bilayer coupled with interspecific dynamics among the resident species (typically transmembrane receptors and trasporters) has been recently formulated to explain and predict how proteins regulate the dynamic heterogeneity of membrane. However, the explicit inclusion of the membrane viscosity in the model was not considered. To this aim, the present work enriches the constitutive description of the bilayer by modeling its visco-elastic behavior. This is done through a strain-level dependent viscosity able to theoretically trace back the alteration of membrane fluidity experimentally observed in lipid phase transitions. This provides new insights into how the quasi-solid and fluid components of lipid membrane response interact with the evolution of resident proteins by affecting the activity of raft domains, with effects on cell mechano-signaling.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2409_15896
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle The interplay between membrane viscosity and ligand-binding receptor kinetics in lipid bilayers
Bernard, Chiara
Carotenuto, Angelo Rosario
Pugno, Nicola Maria
Deseri, Luca
Fraldi, Massimiliano
Soft Condensed Matter
Biological Physics
Plasma membranes appear as deformable systems wherein molecules are free to move and diffuse giving rise to condensed microdomains (composed of ordered lipids, transmembrane proteins and cholesterol) surrounded by disordered lipid molecules. Such denser and thicker regions, namely lipid rafts, are important communication hubs for cells. Indeed, recent experiments revealed how the most of active signaling proteins co-localize on such domains, thereby intensifying the biochemical trafficking of substances. From a material standpoint, it is reasonable to assume the bilayer as a visco-elastic body accounting for both in-plane fluidity and elasticity. Consequently, lipid rafts contribute to membrane heterogeneity by typically exhibiting higher stiffness and viscosity and by locally altering the bilayer dynamics and proteins activity. A chemo-mechanical model of lipid bilayer coupled with interspecific dynamics among the resident species (typically transmembrane receptors and trasporters) has been recently formulated to explain and predict how proteins regulate the dynamic heterogeneity of membrane. However, the explicit inclusion of the membrane viscosity in the model was not considered. To this aim, the present work enriches the constitutive description of the bilayer by modeling its visco-elastic behavior. This is done through a strain-level dependent viscosity able to theoretically trace back the alteration of membrane fluidity experimentally observed in lipid phase transitions. This provides new insights into how the quasi-solid and fluid components of lipid membrane response interact with the evolution of resident proteins by affecting the activity of raft domains, with effects on cell mechano-signaling.
title The interplay between membrane viscosity and ligand-binding receptor kinetics in lipid bilayers
topic Soft Condensed Matter
Biological Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.15896