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Morphological effects of ceramide on DMPC/DHPC bicelles
Author(s) -
BARBOSABARROS L.,
DE LA MAZA A.,
WALTHER P.,
ESTELRICH J.,
LÓPEZ O.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of microscopy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.569
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1365-2818
pISSN - 0022-2720
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2818.2008.01950.x
Subject(s) - ceramide , chemistry , liposome , membrane , electron microscope , biophysics , crystallography , vesicle , biological membrane , biochemistry , optics , biology , apoptosis , physics
Summary Freeze fracture electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering were applied to characterize the morphological changes of DMPC/DHPC bicellar systems induced by the addition of ceramides. The results demonstrate a tendency of the DMPC/DHPC aggregates to evolve forming elongated or tubular structures with the increase of the temperature. At 20°C, low concentrations of ceramide promote the appearance of elongated structures with twisted zones. Higher concentrations of this lipid lead to the formation of liposomes along the elongated structures. The increase of the temperature to 40°C induces the growth of the structures containing low concentrations of ceramide forming branched aggregates. In samples with high amounts of ceramide, the increase of temperature causes phase separation and the formation of a mixed system composed by liposomes and multilamellar tubules. The morphological effects induced by ceramides in this new membrane model give new insights for the role played by this lipid in biological membranes.