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Biomolecules
Special Issues
Recent Developments in Biophysical Studies of Cell Membranes: Second Edition
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Recent Developments in Biophysical Studies of Cell Membranes: Second Edition

A special issue of Biomolecules (ISSN 2218-273X). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Biophysics: Structure, Dynamics, and Function".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 May 2025 | Viewed by 2725

Special Issue Editor

Dr. William T. Heller

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Neutron Scattering Division, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA
Interests: membrane biophysics; model membranes; biomembranes; lipid bilayers; small-angle neutron scattering; peptide interactions with membranes
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Following a very successful first edition, we are pleased to announce that we are accepting submissions for a second edition of a Special Issue on “Recent Developments in Biophysical Studies of Cell Membranes”.

The composition, structure, function and physical properties of cellular membrane continue to attract the attention of researchers. It is an incredibly challenging, complex system to study, being made of a diverse array of lipids, proteins and carbohydrates that varies between different kinds of cells. This complexity gives rise to a highly heterogenous structure that is vital for its function. The creative application of biophysical techniques has produced considerable advances in our understanding of the cellular membrane. However, a great deal remains to be learned about it. In this second edition of the Special Issue, articles describing the studies of cellular membranes, as well as model membranes, performed using a variety of biophysical characterization techniques will be collected that highlight advances made in our understanding about the complexity of cellular membranes and their constituents. Review and original research manuscripts presenting the biophysical studies of cellular membranes and of model cell membranes are welcome as contributions to this Special Issue.

Dr. William T. Heller
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Biomolecules is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • membrane biophysics
  • cell membranes
  • model cell membranes

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

28 pages, 8654 KiB  
Article
Formation of a Neuronal Membrane Model: A Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation Monitoring Study
by Elaheh Kamaloo, Terri A. Camesano and Ramanathan Nagarajan
Biomolecules 2025, 15(3), 362; https://doi.org/10.3390/biom15030362 - 2 Mar 2025
Viewed by 533
Abstract
Supported lipid bilayers (SLBs) that model neuronal membranes are needed to explore the role of membrane lipids in the misfolding and aggregation of amyloid proteins associated with neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. The neuronal membranes include not only phospholipids, but also [...] Read more.
Supported lipid bilayers (SLBs) that model neuronal membranes are needed to explore the role of membrane lipids in the misfolding and aggregation of amyloid proteins associated with neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. The neuronal membranes include not only phospholipids, but also significant amounts of cholesterol, sphingomyelin, and gangliosides, which are critical to its biological function. In this study, we explored the conditions for the formation of an SLB, for the five-component lipid mixture composed of zwitterionic 1,2-Dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DOPC), anionic 1,2-dioleoyl- sn-glycero-3-phospho-L-serine (DOPS), nonionic cholesterol (Chol), zwitterionic sphingomyelin (SM), and anionic ganglioside (GM), using the quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) technique, by varying experimental parameters such as pH, buffer type, temperature, vesicle size, and osmotic stress. SLB formation from this multicomponent lipid system was found challenging because the vesicles adsorbed intact on the quartz crystal and failed to rupture. For most of the variables tested, other than osmotic stress, we found no or only partial vesicle rupture leading to either a supported layer of vesicles or a partial SLB that included unruptured vesicles. When osmotic stress was applied to the vesicles already adsorbed on the surface, by having a different salt concentration in the rinse buffer that follows vesicle flow compared to that of the dilution buffer during vesicle flow and adsorption, vesicle rupture increased, but it remained incomplete. In contrast, when osmotic stress was applied during vesicle flow and adsorption on the surface, by having different salt concentrations in the dilution buffer in which vesicles flowed compared to the hydration buffer in which vesicles were prepared, complete vesicle rupture and successful formation of a rigid SLB was demonstrated. The robustness of this approach to form SLBs by applying osmotic stress during vesicle adsorption was found to be independent of the number of lipid components, as shown by SLB formation from the 1-, 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-component lipid systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Developments in Biophysical Studies of Cell Membranes: Second Edition)
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37 pages, 21081 KiB  
Article
Interaction of the Antibiotic Rifampicin with Lipid Membranes
by Rui M. S. Santos, Jaime Samelo, Alexandre C. Oliveira, Margarida M. Cordeiro, Maria Julia Mora, Gladys E. Granero, Hugo A. L. Filipe, Luís M. S. Loura and Maria João Moreno
Biomolecules 2025, 15(3), 320; https://doi.org/10.3390/biom15030320 - 21 Feb 2025
Viewed by 526
Abstract
Rifampicin is a broad-spectrum antibiotic, active against several bacterial infections such as tuberculosis. It is a relatively large and structurally complex molecule, including numerous polar groups. Although violating several of Lipinski’s rules for efficient intestinal absorption, rifampicin shows good oral bioavailability, permeating through [...] Read more.
Rifampicin is a broad-spectrum antibiotic, active against several bacterial infections such as tuberculosis. It is a relatively large and structurally complex molecule, including numerous polar groups. Although violating several of Lipinski’s rules for efficient intestinal absorption, rifampicin shows good oral bioavailability, permeating through cell membranes in the absorption pathway and those of the target organisms. Some hypotheses have been proposed for its efficient membrane permeation, but the details are mostly unknown. In this work, the interaction of rifampicin with POPC lipid bilayers is studied using experimental biophysics methodologies and atomistic molecular dynamics simulations considering the two most prevalent ionic species at physiological pH, the anionic and the zwitterionic forms. The results show that both ionization forms of rifampicin establish favorable interactions with the membrane lipids, in agreement with the relatively high partition coefficient obtained experimentally. The results from MD simulations and isothermal titration calorimetry using different pH buffers show that the piperazine group inserts deeply in the membrane and is accompanied by a stabilization of its neutral form. The bulky nature of rifampicin and its deep insertion in the membrane lead to a strong perturbation in the lipids local order, decreasing the membrane barrier properties as evaluated from the rate of carboxyfluorescein leaching. Altogether, the comparison between the experimental and MD simulations results provides important insight regarding the rifampicin molecular features responsible for its relatively fast membrane permeation. The lipid POPC used in this study was selected as a simple membrane with relevance for different organisms across all kingdoms. Further studies using more complex lipid compositions will provide details on eventual specificities for rifampicin interaction with the membranes of distinct organisms. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Developments in Biophysical Studies of Cell Membranes: Second Edition)
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15 pages, 4295 KiB  
Article
Local Stress in Cylindrically Curved Lipid Membrane: Insights into Local Versus Global Lateral Fluidity Models
by Konstantin V. Pinigin
Biomolecules 2024, 14(11), 1471; https://doi.org/10.3390/biom14111471 - 19 Nov 2024
Viewed by 1012
Abstract
Lipid membranes, which are fundamental to cellular function, undergo various mechanical deformations. Accurate modeling of these processes necessitates a thorough understanding of membrane elasticity. The lateral shear modulus, a critical parameter describing membrane resistance to lateral stresses, remains elusive due to the membrane’s [...] Read more.
Lipid membranes, which are fundamental to cellular function, undergo various mechanical deformations. Accurate modeling of these processes necessitates a thorough understanding of membrane elasticity. The lateral shear modulus, a critical parameter describing membrane resistance to lateral stresses, remains elusive due to the membrane’s fluid nature. Two contrasting hypotheses, local fluidity and global fluidity, have been proposed. While the former suggests a zero local lateral shear modulus anywhere within lipid monolayers, the latter posits that only the integral of this modulus over the monolayer thickness vanishes. These differing models lead to distinct estimations of other elastic moduli and affect the modeling of biological processes, such as membrane fusion/fission and membrane-mediated interactions. Notably, they predict distinct local stress distributions in cylindrically curved membranes. The local fluidity model proposes isotropic local lateral stress, whereas the global fluidity model predicts anisotropy due to anisotropic local lateral stretching of lipid monolayers. Using molecular dynamics simulations, this study directly investigates these models by analyzing local stress in a cylindrically curved membrane. The results conclusively demonstrate the existence of static local lateral shear stress and anisotropy in local lateral stress within the monolayers of the cylindrical membrane, strongly supporting the global fluidity model. These findings have significant implications for the calculation of surface elastic moduli and offer novel insights into the fundamental principles governing lipid membrane elasticity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Developments in Biophysical Studies of Cell Membranes: Second Edition)
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