Issue 25, 2015

Celebrating Soft Matter's 10th anniversary: screening of the calcium-induced spontaneous curvature of lipid membranes

Abstract

Lipid membranes are key regulators of cellular function. An important step in membrane-related phenomena is the reshaping of the lipid bilayer, often induced by binding of macromolecules. Numerous experimental and simulation efforts have revealed that calcium, a ubiquitous cellular messenger, has a strong impact on the phase behavior, structural properties, and the stability of membranes. Yet, it is still unknown the way calcium and lipid interactions affect their macroscopic mechanical properties. In this work, we studied the interaction of calcium ions with membrane tethers pulled from giant unilamellar vesicles, to quantify the mechanical effect on the membrane. We found that calcium imposes a positive spontaneous curvature on negatively charged membranes, contrary to predictions we made based on the proposed atomic structure. Surprisingly, this effect vanishes in the presence of physiologically relevant concentrations of sodium chloride. Our work implies that calcium may be a trigger for membrane reshaping only at high concentrations, in a process that is robustly screened by sodium ions.

Graphical abstract: Celebrating Soft Matter's 10th anniversary: screening of the calcium-induced spontaneous curvature of lipid membranes

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
14 Janv. 2015
Accepted
11 Maijs 2015
First published
11 Maijs 2015

Soft Matter, 2015,11, 5030-5036

Author version available

Celebrating Soft Matter's 10th anniversary: screening of the calcium-induced spontaneous curvature of lipid membranes

M. Simunovic, K. Y. C. Lee and P. Bassereau, Soft Matter, 2015, 11, 5030 DOI: 10.1039/C5SM00104H

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