Incorporation of aspirin modulates the dynamical and phase behavior of the phospholipid membrane

V. K. Sharma, E. Mamontov, M. Ohl, M. Tyagi

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

53 Scopus citations

Abstract

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are one of the most widely used medications in the world for their analgesic, antipyretic, and anti-inflammatory actions, despite a well-known incidence of a wide spectrum of their adverse effects. To a great extent, beneficial action and side effects of NSAIDs are associated with the interaction of these drugs at the cell membrane level. Here, we use neutron scattering to combine elastic intensity scans, quasielastic and neutron spin echo (NSE) measurements to understand the effect of aspirin, a commonly used NSAID, on the dynamical and phase behavior of the membrane of dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC), a prominent representative of phospholipids residing in the outer leaflet of the human erythrocyte membrane. Elastic intensity scans reveal that addition of aspirin not only eliminates the pre-transition (solid gel to ripple phase), but also broadens the main phase transition (ripple to fluid phase) in the membrane. Moreover, the main phase transition becomes shifted toward a lower temperature. These results are found to be consistent with our differential scanning calorimetry measurements. Elastic intensity scans further suggest that aspirin inhibits the membrane from going into the ordered phase and overall induces disorder in the membrane, thus indicating enhancement in the fluidity of the membrane. Quasielastic neutron scattering (QENS) data show that aspirin affects both lateral lipid motion within the leaflet and the localized internal motion of the lipid. Aspirin accelerates both lateral and internal motions, with the more pronounced effect observed for the ordered phase of the neat membrane. Intermediate scattering function as observed by NSE has been analyzed using the Zilman Granek model, which indicates that addition of aspirin alters the bending modulus of the membrane to make the membrane softer. Our study provides a quantitative description of the effect of an archetypal NSAID, aspirin, on the various physical properties of the model biological membrane, which is essential for understanding the complex drug-membrane interaction.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2514-2524
Number of pages11
JournalPhysical Chemistry Chemical Physics
Volume19
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 2017

Funding

Experiments on HFBS at NCNR are supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Agreement No. DMR-1508249. Research conducted at ORNL's Spallation Neutron Source was sponsored by the Scientific User Facilities Division, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, U.S. Department of Energy. Certain commercial material suppliers are identified in this paper to foster understanding. Such identification does not imply recommendation or endorsement by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, nor does it imply that the materials or equipment identified are necessarily the best available for the purpose.

FundersFunder number
Office of Basic Energy Sciences
Scientific User Facilities Division
National Science FoundationDMR-1508249
U.S. Department of Energy
National Institute of Standards and Technology
NIST Center for Neutron Research

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