Amphiphilic Co-Solvents Modulate the Structure of Membrane Domains

Luoxi Tan, Haden L. Scott, Micholas Dean Smith, Sai Venkatesh Pingali, Hugh M. O’Neill, Jennifer L. Morrell-Falvey, John Katsaras, Jeremy C. Smith, Brian H. Davison, James G. Elkins, Jonathan D. Nickels

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Biofuels are an increasing part of the sustainable energy picture. This makes it a societal and economic imperative to optimize biofuel production. Mitigating the toxic effects of amphiphilic co-solvents is one way to improve the efficiency of biofuel production. Amphiphiles partition into cellular membranes, leading to membrane thinning, destabilization, loss of membrane potential, and, ultimately, cell death. However, this picture of solvent toxicity misses the disruptive impact of co-solvents on lateral membrane organization, which is increasingly recognized as critical for membrane protein sorting and oligomerization. The alteration or disruption of membrane domains has deleterious effects on cellular processes. In this work, we pursue the hypothesis that membrane lateral organization is disrupted by the presence of co-solvents at concentrations lower than those which lead to full membrane destabilization. The disruption occurs due to an increasing interfacial tension between the co-existing phases, resulting in conformational changes to minimize the interfacial length-to-area ratio. This represents an unrecognized mode of solvent-induced stress and a new target for interventions to improve fermentation yields.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1598-1609
Number of pages12
JournalACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering
Volume11
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 30 2023

Funding

This research was supported by the Genomic Science Program, Office of Biological and Environmental Research, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), under Contract FWP ERKP752. This material is based on the work supported by the National Science Foundation under grant no. 2146264. A portion of this research used resources at the High Flux Isotope Reactor and Spallation Neutron Source, a DOE Office of Science User Facility operated by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

FundersFunder number
National Science Foundation2146264
U.S. Department of EnergyFWP ERKP752
Office of Science
Biological and Environmental Research
Oak Ridge National Laboratory

    Keywords

    • and molecular dynamics simulations
    • biofuels
    • lipid phase behavior
    • neutron scattering

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