Regensburg 2019 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 2: Membranes and vesicles I (joint session BP/CPP)

BP 2.5: Hauptvortrag

Montag, 1. April 2019, 10:30–11:00, H10

Lessons learned from complex mimics of biological membranes — •Georg Pabst — University of Graz, Institute of Molecular Biociences, NAWI Graz, 8010 Graz, Austria

Lipid-only mimics of biological membranes serve as valuable platforms for studying the functional role of membrane lipids under chemically and experimentally well-defined conditions. Of recent, we have focused on complex mimics of mammalian and bacterial plasma membranes with either lateral or transbilayer inhomogeneities. In particular, we have developed protocols for fabricating and analyzing asymmetric lipid vesicles, which are sufficiently stable and which are amenable for biophysical studies using diverse techniques. We have specialized on small-angle X-ray/neutron scattering combined with complimentary techniques to address leaflet specific structure and transbilayer coupling mechanisms. Complementary, we are currently developing tools for reliable estimates for intrinsic lipid curvatures, which are known to play a pivotal role in coupling to protein function. I will present recent research highlights resulting from these efforts and discuss some applications to membrane-active drugs, such as antimicrobial peptides, or the partitioning of transmembrane proteins function.