Biomedical subjects

Daniel Harries

Publications and source records attributed to Daniel Harries.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Ion induced lamellar-lamellar phase transition in charged surfactant systems.

We propose a model for the liquid-liquid (L(alpha)-->L(alpha(') )) phase transition observed in osmotic pressure measurements of certain charged lamellae-forming amphiphiles. The model free energy combines mean-field electrostatic and phenomenological nonelectrostatic interactions, while the number of dissociated counterions is treated as a variable degree of freedom that is determined self-consistently. The model, therefore, joins two well-known theories: the Poisson-Boltzmann theory for ionic solutions between charged lamellae and the Langmuir-Frumkin-Davies adsorption isotherm modified to account for charged adsorbing species. Minimizing the appropriate free energy for each interlamellar spacing, we find the ionic density profiles and the resulting osmotic pressure. While in the simple Poisson-Boltzmann theory the osmotic pressure isotherms are always smooth, we observe a discontinuous liquid-liquid phase transition when the Poisson-Boltzmann theory is self-consistently augmented by the Langmuir-Frumkin-Davies adsorption. This phase transition depends on the area per amphiphilic head group, as well as on nonelectrostatic interactions of the counterions with the lamellae and interactions between counterion-bound and counterion-dissociated surfactants. Coupling the lateral phase transition in the bilayer plane with electrostatic interactions in the bulk, our results offer a qualitative explanation for the existence of the L(alpha)-->L(alpha(') ) phase transition of didodecyldimethylammonium bromide (DDABr), but the transition's apparent absence for the chloride and the iodide homologs. More quantitative comparisons with experiment require better understanding of the microscopic basis of the phenomenological model parameters.

Adsorption↗

PubMed2006

Abnormal sterols in cholesterol-deficiency diseases cause secretory granule malformation and decreased membrane curvature.

Cholesterol is an abundant lipid in eukaryotic membranes, implicated in numerous structural and functional capacities. Here, we have investigated the mechanism by which cholesterol affects secretory granule biogenesis in vivo using Dhcr7(-/-) and Sc5d(-/-) mouse models of the human diseases, Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome (SLOS) and lathosterolosis. These homozygous-recessive multiple-malformation disorders are characterized by the functional absence of one of the last two enzymes in the cholesterol biosynthetic pathway, resulting in the accumulation of precursors. Cholesterol-deficient mice exhibit a significant decrease in the numbers of secretory granules in the pancreas, pituitary and adrenal glands. Moreover, there was an increase in morphologically aberrant granules in the exocrine pancreas of Dhcr7(-/-) acinar cells. Regulated secretory pathway function was also severely diminished in these cells, but could be restored with exogenous cholesterol. Sterol precursors incorporated in artificial membranes resulted in decreased bending rigidity and intrinsic curvature compared with cholesterol, thus providing a cholesterol-mediated mechanism for normal granule budding, and an explanation for granule malformation in SLOS and lathosterolosis.

Animals↗

PubMed2006

Spontaneous patterning of confined granular rods.

Vertically vibrated rod-shaped granular materials confined to quasi-2D containers self-organize into distinct patterns. We find, consistent with theory and simulation, a density dependent isotropic-nematic transition. Along the walls, rods interact sterically to form a wetting layer. For high rod densities, complex patterns emerge as a result of competition between bulk and boundary alignment. A continuum elastic energy accounting for nematic distortion and local wall anchoring reproduces the structures seen experimentally.

Anisotropy↗

PubMed2005

Swelling of phospholipids by monovalent salt.

Critical to biological processes such as membrane fusion and secretion, ion-lipid interactions at the membrane-water interface still raise many unanswered questions. Using reconstituted phosphatidylcholine membranes, we confirm here that multilamellar vesicles swell in salt solutions, a direct indication that salt modifies the interactions between neighboring membranes. By varying sample histories, and by comparing with data from ion carrier-containing bilayers, we eliminate the possibility that swelling is an equilibration artifact. Although both attractive and repulsive forces could be modified by salt, we show experimentally that swelling is driven primarily by weakening of the van der Waals attraction. To isolate the effect of salt on van der Waals interactions, we focus on high salt concentrations at which any possible electrostatic interactions are screened. By analysis of X-ray diffraction data, we show that salt does not alter membrane structure or bending rigidity, eliminating the possibility that repulsive fluctuation forces change with salt. By measuring changes in interbilayer separation with applied osmotic stress, we have determined, using the standard paradigm for bilayer interactions, that 1 M concentrations of KBr or KCl decrease the van der Waals strength by 50%. By weakening van der Waals attractions, salt increases energy barriers to membrane contact, possibly affecting cellular communication and biological signaling.

Algorithms↗

PubMed2005

Measured depletion of ions at the biomembrane interface.

Expected from theory and simulations, depletion of ions at fuzzy biomembrane interfaces has long eluded experiments. Here, we show how salt exclusion can be accurately measured by surprisingly simple yet accurate benchtop measurements. Multilamellar aggregates of common phospholipids sink in low salt but float in salt solutions that are much less dense than the lipid itself. By manipulating bath and lipid densities, using heavy water and varied lipid chain length, we obtain accurate exclusion curves over a wide range of KCl and KBr concentrations. While maintaining a constant width at low salt, the exclusion layer decreases in high salt, following the Debye screening length. Consistent with interfacial accumulation of polarizable ions, bromide salts are less excluded than chloride, with an attraction of approximately 2kBT per Br- ion. So far neglected in theoretical descriptions, the competition between salt exclusion and binding is critical to understanding membrane interactions and specific ionic effects.

Bromides↗

PubMed2005

Polymorphism of DNA-anionic liposome complexes reveals hierarchy of ion-mediated interactions.

Self-assembled DNA delivery systems based on anionic lipids (ALs) complexed with DNA mediated by divalent cations have been recently introduced as an alternative to cationic lipid-DNA complexes because of their low cytotoxicity. We investigate AL-DNA complexes induced by different cations by using synchrotron small angle x-ray scattering and confocal microscopy to show how different ion-mediated interactions are expressed in the self-assembled structures and phase behavior of AL-DNA complexes. The governing interactions in AL-DNA systems are complex: divalent ions can mediate strong attractions between different combinations of the components (such as DNA-DNA and membrane-membrane). Moreover, divalent cations can coordinate non-electrostatically with lipids and modify the resultant membrane structure. We find that at low membrane charge densities AL-DNA complexes organize into a lamellar structure of alternating DNA and membrane layers crosslinked by ions. At high membrane charge densities, a new phase with no analog in cationic lipid-DNA systems is observed: DNA is expelled from the complex, and a lamellar stack of membranes and intercalated ions is formed. For a subset of the ionic species, high ion concentrations generate an inverted hexagonal phase comprised of DNA strands wrapped by ion-coated lipid tubes. A simple theoretical model that takes into account the electrostatic and membrane elastic contributions to the free energy shows that this transition is consistent with an ion-induced change in the membrane spontaneous curvature, c0. Moreover, the crossover between the lamellar and inverted hexagonal phases occurs at a critical c0 that agrees well with experimental values.

Cations, Divalent↗

PubMed2005

Solutes probe hydration in specific association of cyclodextrin and adamantane.

Using microcalorimetry, we follow changes in the association free energy of beta-cyclodextrin (CD) with the hydrophobic part of adamantane carboxylate (AD) due to added salt or polar (net-neutral) solutes that are excluded from the molecular interacting surfaces. Changes in binding constants with solution osmotic pressure (water activity) translate into changes in the preferential hydration upon complex formation. We find that these changes correspond to a release of 15-25 solute-excluding waters upon CD/AD association. Reflecting the preferential interaction of solute with reactants versus products, we find that changes in hydration depend on the type of solute used. All solutes used here result in a large change in the enthalpy of the CD-AD binding reaction. In one class of solutes, the corresponding entropy change is much smaller, while in the other class, the entropy change almost fully compensates the solute-specific enthalpy. For many of the solutes, the number of waters released correlates well with their effect on air-water surface tensions. We corroborate these results using vapor pressure osmometry to probe individually the hydration of reactants and products of association, and we discuss the possible interactions and forces between cosolute and hydrophobic surfaces responsible for different kinds of solute exclusion.

Adamantane↗

PubMed2004

Gibbs adsorption isotherm combined with Monte Carlo sampling to see action of cosolutes on protein folding.

Driven by conditions set by smaller solutes, proteins fold and unfold. Experimentally, these conditions are stated as intensive variables--pH and other chemical potentials--as though small solutes were infinite resources that come at an externally varied free energy cost. Computationally, the finite spaces of simulation allow only fixed numbers of these solutes. By combining the analytic Gibbs adsorption isotherm with the computational Monte Carlo sampling of polymer configurations, we have been able to overcome an inherent limitation of computer simulation. The idea is to compute analytically the free energy changes wrought by solutes on each particular configuration. Then numerical computation is needed only to sample the set of configurations as efficiently as when no bathing solute is present. For illustration, the procedure is applied to an idealized two-dimensional heteropolymer to yield lessons about the effect of cosolutes on protein stability.

Adsorption↗

PubMed2004

Structure and fluctuations of charged phosphatidylserine bilayers in the absence of salt.

Using x-ray diffraction and NMR spectroscopy, we present structural and material properties of phosphatidylserine (PS) bilayers that may account for the well documented implications of PS headgroups in cell activity. At 30 degrees C, the 18-carbon monounsaturated DOPS in the fluid state has a cross-sectional area of 65.3 A(2) which is remarkably smaller than the area 72.5 A(2) of the DOPC analog, despite the extra electrostatic repulsion expected for charged PS headgroups. Similarly, at 20 degrees C, the 14-carbon disaturated DMPS in the gel phase has an area of 40.8 A(2) vs. 48.1 A(2) for DMPC. This condensation of area suggests an extra attractive interaction, perhaps hydrogen bonding, between PS headgroups. Unlike zwitterionic lipids, stacks of PS bilayers swell indefinitely as water is added. Data obtained for osmotic pressure versus interbilayer water spacing for fluid phase DOPS are well fit by electrostatic interactions calculated for the Gouy-Chapman regime. It is shown that the electrostatic interactions completely dominate the fluctuational pressure. Nevertheless, the x-ray data definitively exhibit the effects of fluctuations in fluid phase DOPS. From our measurements of fluctuations, we obtain the product of the bilayer bending modulus K(C) and the smectic compression modulus B. At the same interbilayer separation, the interbilayer fluctuations are smaller in DOPS than for DOPC, showing that B and/or K(C) are larger. Complementing the x-ray data, (31)P-chemical shift anisotropy measured by NMR suggest that the DOPS headgroups are less sensitive to osmotic pressure than DOPC headgroups, which is consistent with a larger K(C) in DOPS. Quadrupolar splittings for D(2)O decay less rapidly with increasing water content for DOPS than for DOPC, indicating greater perturbation of interlamellar water and suggesting a greater interlamellar hydration force in DOPS. Our comparisons between bilayers of PS and PC lipids with the same chains and the same temperature enable us to focus on the effects of these headgroups on bilayer properties.

Lipid Bilayers↗

PubMed2002

Macroion-induced compositional instability of binary fluid membranes.

Macroion adsorption on a mixed, fluid, lipid membrane containing oppositely charged lipids induces local changes in lipid composition at the interaction zones, and gradients at their boundaries. Including these effects in the free energy of the macroion-dressed membrane we derive its spinodal equation, and show that nonideal lipid mixing can lead to (lipid-mediated) attraction between macroions and lateral phase separation in the composite membrane. The critical nonideality for this transition is substantially smaller than that of the bare lipid membrane, decreasing with macroion size and charge. That is, the lipid membrane is destabilized by macroion adsorption.

Adsorption↗