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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 26: Posters: Membranes and Vesicles

BP 26.9: Poster

Donnerstag, 29. März 2012, 17:30–19:30, Poster A

Membrane Adhesion via Lipid-Anchored DNA Oligonucleotides — •Russi Gurov, Reinhard Lipowsky, and Rumiana Dimova — Department of Theory and Bio-Systems, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Potsdam, Germany

Cells interact via receptor and ligand molecules located at the surface of their membranes. The binding affinities of these molecules are an important characteristic of the membrane-membrane interactions and can be expressed in terms of the dependence of the bound receptor-ligand complexes on the concentrations of unbound receptors and ligands. In the present study, we use fluorescently-labeled complementary DNA oligonucleotides anchored to the membranes of giant unilamelar vesicles to mimic cell adhesion. By measuring the fluorescence intensities in the adhesion and in the non-adhesion regions of the vesicles we estimate the respective concentrations of bound and the unbound receptors and ligands. The obtained results on the binding affinities are compared to predictions of earlier theoretical studies on the law of mass action (Soft Matter, 2009, 5:3354). We also investigate the partitioning of two types of receptor-ligand pairs in the adhesion zone of the vesicles and discuss the implications of the results for T-cell activation.