Abstract
Ergosterol, found in fungi and some protist membranes, is understudied compared with cholesterol from animal membranes. Generally, ergosterol is assumed to modulate membranes in the same manner as cholesterol, based on their similar chemical structures. Here we reveal some fundamental structural and dynamical differences between them. Neutron diffraction shows that ergosterol is embedded in the lipid bilayer much shallower than cholesterol. Ergosterol does not change the membrane thickness as much as cholesterol does, indicating little condensation effect. Neutron spin echo shows that ergosterol can rigidify and soften membranes at different concentrations. The lateral lipid diffusion measured by quasielastic neutron scattering indicates that ergosterol promotes a jump diffusion of the lipid, whereas cholesterol keeps the same continuous lateral diffusion as the pure lipid membrane. Our results point to quite distinct interactions of ergosterol with membranes compared with cholesterol. These insights provide a basic understanding of membranes containing ergosterol with implications for phenomena such as lipid rafts and drug interactions.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 4745-4752 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters |
| Volume | 15 |
| Issue number | 17 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - May 2 2024 |
Funding
This manuscript was authored by UT-Battelle, LLC, under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the US Department of Energy (DOE). The US government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the US government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for US government purposes. DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan ( https://www.energy.gov/doe-public-access-plan ). Acknowledgments This research used instruments, including Biodeuteration Lab, Bio-SANS, EQ-SANS, NSE, BASIS, and WAND, at the High Flux Isotope Reactor and Spallation Neutron Source, DOE Office of Science user facilities operated by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which is managed by UT-Battelle, LLC, for the US Department of Energy. A part of the research was sponsored by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory\u2019s Laboratory Directed Research and Development program (LOIS-7641).