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Asymmetric Phospholipid Membranes: Effect of pH and Ca2+

  • Chapter
Surface Chemistry of Biological Systems

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 7))

Summary

Phosphatidylserine membranes (either as liquid-crystalline vesicles or as bilayers) in 0.1M NaCl and neutral pH, are very impermeable to cations or anions and exhibit high electrical resistance (5 × 107 Ωcm2). However, the same membranes become unstable under conditions of asymmetric distribution of Ca2+ or H+: Addition of Ca2+ to the aqueous salt solution only on one side of the membrane, produces a lowering of the d. c. resistance, and above a certain concentration results in breakage of the membrane. On the other hand, if Ca2+ is present on both sides, the membranes are stable and show very high electrical resistance (5 × 108Ωcm2) over a wide pH range. The above phenomena were not observed with membranes made of phosphatidylcholine. It is suggested that the instability of PS membranes observed in this study is due to the difference in surface energy between the two opposing sides of the bilayer. The biological implications of membrane instability following an asymmetric distribution of Ca2+ or H+ is discussed.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Biophysical Sciences, State University of New York, Buffalo, USA

    Shinpei Ohki & Demetrios Papahadjopoulos

  2. Dept. of Experimental Pathology, Roswell Park Memorial Institute, Buffalo, New York, USA

    Shinpei Ohki & Demetrios Papahadjopoulos

Authors
  1. Shinpei Ohki
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  2. Demetrios Papahadjopoulos
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, USA

    Martin Blank

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© 1970 Plenum Press, New York

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Ohki, S., Papahadjopoulos, D. (1970). Asymmetric Phospholipid Membranes: Effect of pH and Ca2+ . In: Blank, M. (eds) Surface Chemistry of Biological Systems. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 7. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-9005-7_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-9005-7_9

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4615-9007-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-9005-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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