Dresden 2017 – wissenschaftliches Programm
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 48: Membranes and Vesicles II
BP 48.3: Vortrag
Donnerstag, 23. März 2017, 10:15–10:30, HÜL 386
Controlling Membrane Rigidity and Deformability of Giant Lipid Vesicles with Photoswitchable Lipid Molecules — •Christian Röske1, Carla Pernpeintner1, James Frank2, Patrick Urban1, Dirk Trauner2, and Theobald Lohmüller1 — 1Chair for Photonics and Optoelectronics, Physics Department, LMU Munich — 2Department of Chemistry and CiPSM, LMU Munich
The shape and deformability of lipid vesicles is strongly depending on the mechanical properties of its bilayer membrane. Manipulating the membrane rigidity to induce membrane fluctuations or even shape transformations is usually achieved by changing the temperature, ion concentration, or molecular composition of the membrane itself. Such drastic changes of experimental parameters, however, are often non-reversible or difficult to control. Here, we demonstrate an alternative approach to manipulate membrane properties by incorporating photoswitchable lipid molecules into giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs). The photolipids used in this study contain an azobenze moiety that undergoes reversible photoisomerization upon illumination with UV and visible light. The immediate effect of photoswitching on membrane stiffness and deformability was characterized by using optical tweezers and micropipette aspiration. We observe that membrane rigidity of GUVs can be switched fast and reversibly by almost two orders of magnitude depending on the photolipid concentration and the illumination intensity. Based on these findings, we devised a mechanism to utilize photolipid membranes for storing energy and to releasing it as locally usable work, which is only controlled by light.