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Probing Membrane Viscosity and Interleaflet Friction of Supported Lipid Bilayers by Tracking Electrostatically Adsorbed, Nano‐Sized Vesicles
Author(s) -
Tabaei Seyed R.,
Gillissen Jurriaan J. J.,
Cho NamJoon
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
small
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.785
H-Index - 236
eISSN - 1613-6829
pISSN - 1613-6810
DOI - 10.1002/smll.201601561
Subject(s) - vesicle , membrane , lipid bilayer , thermal diffusivity , fluorescence recovery after photobleaching , viscosity , materials science , bilayer , mass diffusivity , diffusion , membrane fluidity , biophysics , chemistry , analytical chemistry (journal) , chromatography , thermodynamics , composite material , biochemistry , physics , biology
Particle tracking is used to measure the diffusional motion of nanosized (≈100 nm), lipid vesicles that are electrostatically adsorbed onto a solid supported lipid bilayer. It is found that the motion of membrane‐adhering vesicles is Brownian and depends inversely on the vesicle size, but is insensitive to the vesicle surface charge. The measured diffusivity agrees well with the Evans–Sackmann model for the diffusion of inclusions in supported, fluidic membranes. The agreement implies that the vesicle motion is coupled to that of a nanoscopic lipid cluster in the upper leaflet, which slides over the lower leaflet. The diffusivity of membrane‐adhering vesicles is therefore predominantly governed by the interleaflet friction coefficient, while the diffusivity of single lipids is mainly governed by the membrane viscosity. Combined with fluorescence recovery after photobleaching analysis, the interleaflet friction coefficient and the membrane viscosity are determined by applying the Evans–Sackmann model to the measured diffusivity of membrane adhering vesicles and that of supported membrane lipids. This approach provides an alternative to existing methods for measuring the interleaflet friction coefficient and the membrane viscosity.