화학공학소재연구정보센터
Langmuir, Vol.25, No.22, 12874-12877, 2009
Quantification of the Nanomechanical Stability of Ceramide-Enriched Domains
The quantification of the mechanical stability of lipid bilayers is, important in establishing Composition-structure property relations and sheds light on our understanding of the functions of biological membranes. Here, we designed an experiment to directly probe and quantity the nanomechanical stability and rigidity of the ceramide-enriched platforms that play a distinctive role in a variety of cellular processes. Our force mapping results have demonstrated that the ceramide-enriched domains require both methyl beta-cyclodextrin (MbCD) and chloroform treatments to weaken their highly ordered organization, suggesting a lipid packing that is different from that in typical gel States. Our results also show the expulsion or cholesterol from the sphingolipid/cholesterol-enriched domains as a result of ceramide incorporation. This work provides quantitative information oil the nanomechanical stability and rigidity of coexisting phase-segregated lipid bilayers with the presence of ceramide-enriched platforms, indicating that that generation of ceramide in cells drastically alters the structural organization and the mechanical property of biological membranes.