Permeability of DOPC bilayers under photoinduced oxidation: Sensitivity to photosensitizer

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbamem.2018.06.001Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • Lipid membrane permeabilization originates from pore-forming lipid aggregation.

  • Membrane permeability hastens under direct interaction with a photosensitizer.

  • Photosensitizer affinity for the membrane governs the kinetics of permeabilization.

Abstract

The modification of lipid bilayer permeability is one of the most striking yet poorly understood physical transformations that follow photoinduced lipid oxidation. We have recently proposed that the increase of permeability of photooxidized 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DOPC) bilayers is controlled by the time required by the oxidized lipid species to diffuse and aggregate into pores. Here we further probe this mechanism by studying photosensitization of DOPC membranes by methylene blue (MB) and DO15, a more hydrophobic phenothiazinium photosensitizer, under different irradiation powers. Our results not only reveal the interplay between the production rate and the diffusion of the oxidized lipids, but highlight also the importance of photosensitizer localization in the kinetics of oxidized membrane permeability.

Keywords

Model membrane
Lipid photooxidation
Pore formation
Membrane permeabilization
Phenothiazinium photosensitizers

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