Hydration, mobility, aggregation, and nanocluster formation in lipid membranes studied by fluorescence

by Prof. Martin Hof (J. Heyrovský Institute of Physical Chemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic)

Tuesday 29 Apr 2014, 15:00 → 16:00 Europe/Stockholm

Albanova FA31

Fluorescence is a widely used spectroscopic technique in biological membrane sciences. One reason for this is that fluorescence can be used in all kind of model systems, such as monolayers, supported lipid bilayers, or different unilamellar vesicles, as well as in living cells. Using a fluorescent reporter molecule one can gain -depending on the specific techniques chosen- information on location, dynamics and polarity of the labelled system of interest. Although recently super-resolution microscopy techniques have moved into the focus of interest, I believe that the combination of “conservative” techniques can still provide valuable information on specific questions in lipid membrane biophysics. Specifically, in this lecture the time-dependent fluorescence shift method1, different variants of fluorescence fluctuation spectroscopy2, and a Monte Carlo / Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer approach will be discussed3. From the application of those techniques three different membrane topics will be addressed: 1) The impact of truncated oxidized phospholipids on the organisation of the lipid bilayer. 2) Dynamics and size of ganglioside GM1 nanoclusters. 3) Interaction of the Beta-Amyloid peptide with lipid nanoclusters and nanodomains.