Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
6.1
3.3
Journals
Membranes
Special Issues
Composition and Biophysical Properties of Lipid Membranes
share announcement

Composition and Biophysical Properties of Lipid Membranes

A special issue of Membranes (ISSN 2077-0375). This special issue belongs to the section "Biological Membranes".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2025 | Viewed by 2004

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Mariana Ferreira

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
LAQV/REQUIMTE (Laboratório Associado para a Química Verde—Rede de Química e Tecnologia), Departamento de Química e Bioquímica, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre, s/n, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal
Interests: biophysics; microbiology; antimicrobial agents; porins; bacteria

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Membranes are key components of cells, comprising mainly lipids, proteins, and carbohydrates, which are involved in signaling and cell recognition. The membrane composition modulates its properties, as fluidity, phase behavior, asymmetry, permeability, and elasticity, and undergoes changes in (patho)physiological conditions, which impact membrane-driven processes. Therefore, insights on membrane’s biophysical features are crucial to improve the knowledge on molecular membrane mechanisms. Therefore, mimetic membrane model systems have been widely used for the biophysical characterization of membranes through isothermal titration calorimetry, surface plasmon resonance, Langmuir isotherms, dynamic light scattering, circular dichroism spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, UV–vis and fluorescence spectroscopy, confocal microscopy, small-angle X-ray scattering, and computational biophysical methods, among others.

This Special Issue aims to provide a platform for different biophysical approaches regarding the composition and biophysical properties of lipid membranes. I am pleased to invite you to submit manuscripts, including original research articles or reviews.

I am looking forward to receiving your contributions to the Special Issue ‘Composition and Biophysical Properties of Lipid Membranes’.

Dr. Mariana Ferreira
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. Membranes 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 2200 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

  • mimetic membrane model systems
  • membrane permeability
  • membrane dynamics
  • cell recognition and signaling
  • lipid rafts
  • lipid–protein interactions
  • biophysical methods

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (4 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

14 pages, 1533 KiB  
Article
Cholesterol Sulfate in Biological Membranes: A Biophysical Study in Cholesterol-Poor and Cholesterol-Rich Biomimetic Models
by Ana Reis, Maria João Sarmento, Mariana Ferreira, Paula Gameiro and Victor de Freitas
Membranes 2025, 15(6), 159; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes15060159 (registering DOI) - 24 May 2025
Abstract
As a surface-located molecule in biological membranes, cholesterol sulphate (CholS) plays a major role in membrane-driven cell–cell processes and events including platelet-cell adhesion, T-cell receptor signalling, sperm–egg interaction, membrane fusion, and skin differentiation. Despite this, little is known about the biophysical implications of [...] Read more.
As a surface-located molecule in biological membranes, cholesterol sulphate (CholS) plays a major role in membrane-driven cell–cell processes and events including platelet-cell adhesion, T-cell receptor signalling, sperm–egg interaction, membrane fusion, and skin differentiation. Despite this, little is known about the biophysical implications of CholS at the membrane in cells and organelles. In this study, we investigate the effect of increasing the content of CholS on the biophysical properties in cholesterol-poor and cholesterol-rich biomimetic models. Data obtained show that increasing amounts of CholS result in a slight increase in anisotropy, evidence for decreased membrane fluidity at higher CholS content (10 mol%) in cholesterol-poor systems but only negligible in rigidified epithelial-like cholesterol-rich systems. On the other hand, incorporation of CholS has an overall increasing ordering effect on membrane organisation and on-surface potential that is influenced by the lipid composition and cholesterol content. Though further research is needed to gain better insights on the (patho)physiological levels of CholS in cells and organelles, our findings are discussed in the context of diet–microbiota–host interactions in membrane-driven events in inflammatory-related disorders. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Composition and Biophysical Properties of Lipid Membranes)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

12 pages, 6498 KiB  
Article
Fast-Rising Electric Pulses by Reducing Membrane Tension for Efficient Membrane Electroporation
by Ping Ye, Lulu Huang and Kuiwen Zhao
Membranes 2025, 15(5), 151; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes15050151 - 16 May 2025
Viewed by 125
Abstract
Membrane electroporation is an emerging minimally invasive ablation technique being rapidly applied in the ablation treatment of tumors and heart conditions. Different rise times of electric fields lead to variations in the distribution and duration of electric field strength on the cell membrane. [...] Read more.
Membrane electroporation is an emerging minimally invasive ablation technique being rapidly applied in the ablation treatment of tumors and heart conditions. Different rise times of electric fields lead to variations in the distribution and duration of electric field strength on the cell membrane. This study investigated the effect of the electric field’s rise time on membrane electroporation characteristics using molecular dynamics simulations. The results showed that fast-rising electrical pulses can significantly reduce the membrane tension induced by the Coulomb force within a short period of time and lead to a trend of the electric field angle distribution towards smaller values below 45°, thereby effectively promoting the pore formation process. Optimizing the electric field’s rise time is an effective electroporation ablation strategy, potentially improving the efficacy of clinical cancer treatment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Composition and Biophysical Properties of Lipid Membranes)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 2921 KiB  
Article
Coenzyme Q10 Enhances Resilience of Mitochondrial-like Membranes Against Amyloidogenic Peptides
by Raina Marie Seychell, Adam El Saghir, Gianluca Farrugia and Neville Vassallo
Membranes 2025, 15(5), 148; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes15050148 - 13 May 2025
Viewed by 267
Abstract
Mitochondria possess a double-membrane envelope which is susceptible to insult by pathogenic intracellular aggregates of amyloid-forming peptides, such as the amyloid-beta (1-42) (Aβ42) peptide and the human islet amyloid polypeptide (hIAPP). The molecular composition of membranes plays a pivotal role in regulating peptide [...] Read more.
Mitochondria possess a double-membrane envelope which is susceptible to insult by pathogenic intracellular aggregates of amyloid-forming peptides, such as the amyloid-beta (1-42) (Aβ42) peptide and the human islet amyloid polypeptide (hIAPP). The molecular composition of membranes plays a pivotal role in regulating peptide aggregation and cytotoxicity. Therefore, we hypothesized that modifying the physicochemical properties of mitochondrial model membranes with a small molecule might act as a countermeasure against the formation of, and damage by, membrane-active amyloid peptides. To investigate this, we inserted the natural ubiquinone Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) in model mito-mimetic lipid vesicles, and studied how they interacted with Aβ42 and hIAPP peptide monomers and oligomers. Our results demonstrate that the membrane incorporation of CoQ10 significantly attenuated fibrillization of the peptides, whilst also making the membranes more resilient against peptide-induced permeabilization. Furthermore, these protective effects were linked with the ability of CoQ10 to enhance membrane packing in the inner acyl chain region, which increased the mechanical stability of the vesicle membranes. Based on our collective observations, we propose that mitochondrial resilience against toxic biomolecules implicit in protein misfolding disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease and type-2 diabetes, could potentially be enhanced by increasing CoQ10 levels within mitochondria. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Composition and Biophysical Properties of Lipid Membranes)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

16 pages, 5006 KiB  
Article
Insights on Hydrogen Bond Network of Water in Phospholipid Membranes: An Infrared Study at Varying Hydration
by Valeria Conti Nibali, Caterina Branca, Ulderico Wanderlingh, Rosaria Verduci, Elisa Bonaccorso, Andrea Ciccolo and Giovanna D’Angelo
Membranes 2025, 15(2), 46; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes15020046 - 4 Feb 2025
Viewed by 1067
Abstract
Water in membrane interphases is vital for cellular biological functions, but despite its importance, the structure and function of biological water remain elusive. Here, by studying the OH stretching mode in partially hydrated lipid multilayers by FTIR measurements, relevant information on the water [...] Read more.
Water in membrane interphases is vital for cellular biological functions, but despite its importance, the structure and function of biological water remain elusive. Here, by studying the OH stretching mode in partially hydrated lipid multilayers by FTIR measurements, relevant information on the water structure near the surface with lipid membranes has been gathered. The water hydrogen bond network is highly perturbed in the first layers that are in contact with the lipid membrane, exhibiting strong deviations from tetrahedral symmetry and a significant number of defects, such as isolated water molecules and a large number of hydrogen-bonded water dimers in the interphase region. These findings support the hypothesis that water chains form in phospholipid membranes, and are involved in the proton transfer across lipid bilayers by phosphate groups of opposing lipids. Furthermore, we have determined that even at very low hydration levels, a small amount of water is embedded within the confined spaces of the hydrocarbon region of phospholipid bilayers, which could potentially contribute to the structural stability of the lipid membrane. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Composition and Biophysical Properties of Lipid Membranes)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-4
Back to TopTop