Berlin 2018 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 15: Postersession III

BP 15.5: Poster

Tuesday, March 13, 2018, 14:00–16:00, Poster B

The interaction of viral fusion peptides with model lipid membranes — •Göran Surmeier, Michael Paulus, Susanne Dogan, Yury Forov, Mirko Elbers, Paul Salmen, Metin Tolan, and Julia Nase — Fakultät Physik/DELTA, TU Dortmund, 44221 Dortmund, Germany

Viral fusion peptides (FP) are hydrophobic sequences of viral envelope proteins located in the ectodomain. Due to their position exposed to the external aqueous medium, FPs play an important role in the interaction of the viral envelope with target membranes. When a virus enters a host cell, the insertion of the FP into the target membrane leads to destabilization, thus catalysing the membrane fusion reaction. We investigated their influence on model membranes by studying the pressure dependent behavior of monoolein/water mixtures in presence and absence of the FPs of hemagglutinin 2, tick-borne encephalitis virus and vesicular stomatitis virus at a hydrophilic silicon dioxide surface using X-ray reflectivity (XRR) measurements. Previous studies demonstrated that various phase transitions between hexagonal, cubic and lamellar phases occur in monoolein/water mixtures and that the phase boundaries shift as soon as a FP is added. By applying the XRR technique, we were able to resolve the vertical membrane structure. Furthermore, we observed a modified phase behavior in the near-surface area by comparing the XRR data to additionally captured volume sensitive small angle X-ray scattering measurements. Experiments were performed at beamlines ID31 at the ESRF (Grenoble, France) and BL9 at DELTA (Dortmund, Germany).