TY - JOUR
T1 - Interplay between alkyl chain asymmetry and cholesterol addition in the rigid ion pair amphiphile bilayer systems
AU - Huang, Fong yin
AU - Chiu, Chi cheng
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank Professor Chien-Hsiang Chang and Professor Yu-Min Yang for providing fruitful experimental insights. This work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan through Grant Nos. MOST 103-2218-E-006-013 and MOST 104-2221-E-006-236-MY2 and by the high performance cluster computing service from computer and network center of National Cheng Kung University.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Author(s).
PY - 2017/1/21
Y1 - 2017/1/21
N2 - Ion pair amphiphile (IPA), a molecular complex composed of a pair of cationic and anionic surfactants, has been proposed as a novel phospholipid substitute. Controlling the physical stability of IPA vesicles is important for its application developments such as cosmetic and drug deliveries. To investigate the effects of IPA alkyl chain combinations and the cholesterol additive on the structural and mechanical properties of IPA vesicular bilayers, we conducted a series of molecular dynamics studies on the hexadecyltrimethylammonium-dodecylsulfate (HTMA-DS) and dodecyltrimethylammonium-hexadecylsulfate (DTMA-HS) IPA bilayers with cholesterol. We found that both IPA bilayers are in the gel phase at 298 K, consistent with experimental observations. Compared with the HTMA-DS system, the DTMA-HS bilayer has more disordered alkyl chains in the hydrophobic region. When adding cholesterol, it induces alkyl chain ordering around its rigid sterol ring. Yet, cholesterol increases the molecular areas for all species and disturbs the molecular packing near the hydrophilic region and the bilayer core. Cholesterol also promotes the alkyl chain mismatch between the IPA moieties, especially for the DTMA-HS bilayer. The combined effects lead to non-monotonically enhancement of the membrane mechanical moduli for both IPA-cholesterol systems. Furthermore, cholesterol can form H-bonds with the alkylsulfate and thus enhance the contribution of alkylsulfate to the overall mechanical moduli. Combined results provide valuable molecular insights into the roles of each IPA component and the cholesterol on modulating the IPA bilayer properties.
AB - Ion pair amphiphile (IPA), a molecular complex composed of a pair of cationic and anionic surfactants, has been proposed as a novel phospholipid substitute. Controlling the physical stability of IPA vesicles is important for its application developments such as cosmetic and drug deliveries. To investigate the effects of IPA alkyl chain combinations and the cholesterol additive on the structural and mechanical properties of IPA vesicular bilayers, we conducted a series of molecular dynamics studies on the hexadecyltrimethylammonium-dodecylsulfate (HTMA-DS) and dodecyltrimethylammonium-hexadecylsulfate (DTMA-HS) IPA bilayers with cholesterol. We found that both IPA bilayers are in the gel phase at 298 K, consistent with experimental observations. Compared with the HTMA-DS system, the DTMA-HS bilayer has more disordered alkyl chains in the hydrophobic region. When adding cholesterol, it induces alkyl chain ordering around its rigid sterol ring. Yet, cholesterol increases the molecular areas for all species and disturbs the molecular packing near the hydrophilic region and the bilayer core. Cholesterol also promotes the alkyl chain mismatch between the IPA moieties, especially for the DTMA-HS bilayer. The combined effects lead to non-monotonically enhancement of the membrane mechanical moduli for both IPA-cholesterol systems. Furthermore, cholesterol can form H-bonds with the alkylsulfate and thus enhance the contribution of alkylsulfate to the overall mechanical moduli. Combined results provide valuable molecular insights into the roles of each IPA component and the cholesterol on modulating the IPA bilayer properties.
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U2 - 10.1063/1.4974089
DO - 10.1063/1.4974089
M3 - Article
C2 - 28109215
AN - SCOPUS:85009971758
SN - 0021-9606
VL - 146
JO - Journal of Chemical Physics
JF - Journal of Chemical Physics
IS - 3
M1 - 035102
ER -