Lipid bilayers: Phase behavior and nanomechanics

Lorena Redondo-Morata (1) , Patricia Losada-Pérez (2) , Marina Inés Giannotti (3, 4, 5)

1 CIIL - Centre d’Infection et d’Immunité de Lille - INSERM U 1019 - UMR 9017 - UMR 8204
2 ULB - Université libre de Bruxelles
3 CIBER-BBN - Biomedical Research Networking Center in Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicine
4 IBEC - Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia [Barcelona]
5 UB - Universitat de Barcelona

Lipid membranes are involved in many physiological processes like recognition, signaling, fusion or remodeling of the cell membrane or some of its internal compartments. Within the cell, they are the ultimate barrier, while maintaining the fluidity or flexibility required for a myriad of processes, including membrane protein assembly. The physical properties of in vitro model membranes as model cell membranes have been extensively studied with a variety of techniques, from classical thermodynamics to advanced modern microscopies. Here we review the nanomechanics of solid-supported lipid membranes with a focus in their phase behavior. Relevant information obtained by quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) as complementary techniques in the nano/mesoscale interface is presented. Membrane morphological and mechanical characterization will be discussed in the framework of its phase behavior, phase transitions and coexistence, in simple and complex models, and upon the presence of cholesterol.

Mots clés: Lipid phase behavior; Phase transition; Phase coexistence; Nanomechanics; Thermodynamics; Atomic force microscopy (AFM); Quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D)

Domaines: Biophysique; Chimie-Physique [physics.chem-ph]

Lorena Redondo-Morata, Patricia Losada-Pérez, Marina Inés Giannotti. Lipid bilayers: Phase behavior and nanomechanics. Irena Levitan; Andreea Trache. Membrane Biomechanics, 86, Elsevier, pp.1-55, 2020, Current Topics in Membranes, 978-0-12-821021-5. ⟨10.1016/bs.ctm.2020.08.005⟩. ⟨hal-02976730⟩