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Membranes
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Membrane Biological Function in Health and Disease
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Membrane Biological Function in Health and Disease

A special issue of Membranes (ISSN 2077-0375). This special issue belongs to the section "Biological Membrane Functions".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 September 2022) | Viewed by 19459

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Peter G. Petrov

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences, School of Physics, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QL, UK
Interests: membrane biophysics; lipid vesicles; Langmuir monolayers; protein–lipid interactions; interactions between bacterial toxins and membranes; membrane physical properties; effect of oxidative stress on membrane organisation; properties and function
Prof. Dr. C. Peter Winlove

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QL, UK
Interests: the biophysics of the extracellular matrix and its constituent biopolymers; cell membrane biophysics; biomechanics; nonlinear microscopy and vibrational spectroscopy

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The plasma membrane of mammalian cells hosts a large number of essential cell functions, such as passive and active transmembrane transport, exo- and endocytosis, cell signalling, motility, and so on. The lipid bilayer typically contains more than a hundred different lipid species and although originally it was considered merely as a two-dimensional matrix for hosting proteins, it is now recognised to actively contribute to biological function through its effects on protein conformation, oligomerisation, stability and distribution. Much work, both experimental and theoretical, has been accomplished in understanding the functional significance of the lipid diversity and mesoscopic lateral heterogeneity of the plasma membrane. Notably, relatively simple membrane models based on artificial lipid bilayers and monolayers explored generic physical interactions to gain insights into membrane mechanical and electrical properties, lateral microdomain structure and protein–membrane interactions. Basic molecular and cell biology research has revealed the molecular bases of membrane biological function, often critically dependent on the protein–lipid interactions. This basic understanding and the variety of approaches emerging from diverse disciplines such as cell and membrane biophysics, cell and molecular biology, theory and computational modelling has made it possible, in the past decade or so, to begin addressing, on a more fundamental level, questions related to impaired membrane function in disease.  A few examples are genetic disorders affecting plasma and organelle dynamics and function, effects of oxidative and other chemical stress on membranes, membrane dysfunction stemming from impaired membrane physical properties, compromised biochemical signalling originating from the plasma membrane, toxin–membrane interactions.

In this Special Issue, we wish to facilitate the dialogue between colleagues from different disciplines working on the relationship between cell membrane composition, structure and function, with a particular emphasis on effects of disease on membrane function. Original research articles and reviews are welcome, and research areas may include (but are not limited to) membrane biophysics, cell and molecular biology of membranes, biomedical research, theory and modelling, soft matter, and so on.

Dr. Peter G. Petrov
Prof. Dr. C. Peter Winlove
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Membranes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • plasma membrane
  • protein–lipid interactions
  • membrane function
  • lipid bilayer
  • lipid vesicles
  • langmuir monolayers

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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18 pages, 3826 KiB  
Article
Impact of Pollutant Ozone on the Biophysical Properties of Tear Film Lipid Layer Model Membranes
by Mahshid Keramatnejad and Christine DeWolf
Membranes 2023, 13(2), 165; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes13020165 - 28 Jan 2023
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1831
Abstract
Ozone exposure from environmental smog has been implicated as a risk factor for developing dry eye disease (DED). The tear film lipid layer (TFLL), which is the outermost layer of the tear film and responsible for surface tension reduction while blinking, is in [...] Read more.
Ozone exposure from environmental smog has been implicated as a risk factor for developing dry eye disease (DED). The tear film lipid layer (TFLL), which is the outermost layer of the tear film and responsible for surface tension reduction while blinking, is in direct contact with the environment and serves as the first line of defense against external aggressors such as environmental pollution. The impact of exposure to ozone on the biophysical properties of three TFLL model membranes was investigated. These model membranes include a binary mixture of cholesteryl oleate (CO) and L-α-phosphatidylcholine (egg PC), a ternary mixture of CO, glyceryl trioleate (GT) and PC, as well as a quaternary mixture of CO, GT, a mixture of free fatty acids palmitic acid and stearic acid (FFAs) and PC. Biophysical impacts were evaluated as changes to the surface activity, respreadability, morphology and viscoelastic properties of the films. Expansion to higher molecular areas was observed in all the TFLL model membrane films which is attributable to the accommodation of the cleaved chains in the film. Significant morphological changes were observed, namely fluidization and the disruption of the phase transition behaviour of GT, and multilayer formation of CO. This fluidization reduces the hysteresis loops for the model membranes. On the other hand, the viscoelastic properties of the films exhibited differential impacts from ozone exposure as a function of composition. These findings are correlated to chemical changes to the lipids determined using ESI-MS. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Membrane Biological Function in Health and Disease)
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23 pages, 6170 KiB  
Article
The Effects of Cholesterol Oxidation on Erythrocyte Plasma Membranes: A Monolayer Study
by Bob-Dan Lechner, Paul Smith, Beth McGill, Skye Marshall, Jemma L. Trick, Andrei P. Chumakov, Charles Peter Winlove, Oleg V. Konovalov, Christian D. Lorenz and Peter G. Petrov
Membranes 2022, 12(9), 828; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes12090828 - 24 Aug 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2656
Abstract
Cholesterol plays a key role in the molecular and mesoscopic organisation of lipid membranes and it is expected that changes in its molecular structure (e.g., through environmental factors such as oxidative stress) may affect adversely membrane properties and function. In this study, we [...] Read more.
Cholesterol plays a key role in the molecular and mesoscopic organisation of lipid membranes and it is expected that changes in its molecular structure (e.g., through environmental factors such as oxidative stress) may affect adversely membrane properties and function. In this study, we present evidence that oxidation of cholesterol has significant effects on the mechanical properties, molecular and mesoscopic organisation and lipid–sterol interactions in condensed monolayers composed of the main species found in the inner leaflet of the erythrocyte membrane. Using a combination of experimental methods (static area compressibility, surface dilatational rheology, fluorescence microscopy, and surface sensitive X-ray techniques) and atomistic molecular dynamics simulations, we show that oxidation of cholesterol to 7-ketocholesterol leads to stiffening of the monolayer (under both static and dynamic conditions), significant changes in the monolayer microdomain organisation, disruption in the van der Waals, electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions between the sterol and the other lipid species, and the lipid membrane hydration. Surface sensitive X-ray techniques reveal that, whilst the molecular packing mode is not significantly affected by cholesterol oxidation in these condensed phases, there are subtle changes in membrane thickness and a significant decrease in the coherence length in monolayers containing 7-ketocholesterol. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Membrane Biological Function in Health and Disease)
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17 pages, 4256 KiB  
Article
Dependence of Protein Structure on Environment: FOD Model Applied to Membrane Proteins
by Irena Roterman, Katarzyna Stapor, Krzysztof Gądek, Tomasz Gubała, Piotr Nowakowski, Piotr Fabian and Leszek Konieczny
Membranes 2022, 12(1), 50; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes12010050 - 30 Dec 2021
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 1934
Abstract
The natural environment of proteins is the polar aquatic environment and the hydrophobic (amphipathic) environment of the membrane. The fuzzy oil drop model (FOD) used to characterize water-soluble proteins, as well as its modified version FOD-M, enables a mathematical description of the presence [...] Read more.
The natural environment of proteins is the polar aquatic environment and the hydrophobic (amphipathic) environment of the membrane. The fuzzy oil drop model (FOD) used to characterize water-soluble proteins, as well as its modified version FOD-M, enables a mathematical description of the presence and influence of diverse environments on protein structure. The present work characterized the structures of membrane proteins, including those that act as channels, and a water-soluble protein for contrast. The purpose of the analysis was to verify the possibility that an external force field can be used in the simulation of the protein-folding process, taking into account the diverse nature of the environment that guarantees a structure showing biological activity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Membrane Biological Function in Health and Disease)
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20 pages, 6629 KiB  
Article
Coupling Bulk Phase Separation of Disordered Proteins to Membrane Domain Formation in Molecular Simulations on a Bespoke Compute Fabric
by Julian C. Shillcock, David B. Thomas, Jonathan R. Beaumont, Graeme M. Bragg, Mark L. Vousden and Andrew D. Brown
Membranes 2022, 12(1), 17; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes12010017 - 23 Dec 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 4405
Abstract
Phospholipid membranes surround the cell and its internal organelles, and their multicomponent nature allows the formation of domains that are important in cellular signalling, the immune system, and bacterial infection. Cytoplasmic compartments are also created by the phase separation of intrinsically disordered proteins [...] Read more.
Phospholipid membranes surround the cell and its internal organelles, and their multicomponent nature allows the formation of domains that are important in cellular signalling, the immune system, and bacterial infection. Cytoplasmic compartments are also created by the phase separation of intrinsically disordered proteins into biomolecular condensates. The ubiquity of lipid membranes and protein condensates raises the question of how three-dimensional droplets might interact with two-dimensional domains, and whether this coupling has physiological or pathological importance. Here, we explore the equilibrium morphologies of a dilute phase of a model disordered protein interacting with an ideal-mixing, two-component lipid membrane using coarse-grained molecular simulations. We find that the proteins can wet the membrane with and without domain formation, and form phase separated droplets bound to membrane domains. Results from much larger simulations performed on a novel non-von-Neumann compute architecture called POETS, which greatly accelerates their execution compared to conventional hardware, confirm the observations. Reducing the wall clock time for such simulations requires new architectures and computational techniques. We demonstrate here an inter-disciplinary approach that uses real-world biophysical questions to drive the development of new computing hardware and simulation algorithms. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Membrane Biological Function in Health and Disease)
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Review

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18 pages, 2155 KiB  
Review
Reticulocyte Maturation
by Christian J. Stevens-Hernandez and Lesley J. Bruce
Membranes 2022, 12(3), 311; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes12030311 - 10 Mar 2022
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 7407
Abstract
Changes to the membrane proteins and rearrangement of the cytoskeleton must occur for a reticulocyte to mature into a red blood cell (RBC). Different mechanisms of reticulocyte maturation have been proposed to reduce the size and volume of the reticulocyte plasma membrane and [...] Read more.
Changes to the membrane proteins and rearrangement of the cytoskeleton must occur for a reticulocyte to mature into a red blood cell (RBC). Different mechanisms of reticulocyte maturation have been proposed to reduce the size and volume of the reticulocyte plasma membrane and to eliminate residual organelles. Lysosomal protein degradation, exosome release, autophagy and the extrusion of large autophagic–endocytic hybrid vesicles have been shown to contribute to reticulocyte maturation. These processes may occur simultaneously or perhaps sequentially. Reticulocyte maturation is incompletely understood and requires further investigation. RBCs with membrane defects or cation leak disorders caused by genetic variants offer an insight into reticulocyte maturation as they present characteristics of incomplete maturation. In this review, we compare the structure of the mature RBC membrane with that of the reticulocyte. We discuss the mechanisms of reticulocyte maturation with a focus on incomplete reticulocyte maturation in red cell variants. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Membrane Biological Function in Health and Disease)
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