Cholesterol induced asymmetry in DOPC bilayers probed by AFM force spectroscopy

Abstract

Cholesterol induced mechanical effects on artificial lipid bilayers are well known and have been thoroughly investigated by AFM force spectroscopy. However, dynamics of cholesterol impingement into bilayers at various cholesterol concentrations and their effects have not been clearly understood. In this paper we present, the effect of cholesterol as a function of its concentration in a simple single component dioleoylphosphatidylcholine (DOPC) bilayer. The nature of measured breakthrough forces on a bilayer with the addition of cholesterol, suggested that it is not just responsible to increase the mechanical stability but also introduces irregularities across the leaflets of the bilayer. This cholesterol induced asymmetry across the (in the inner and outer leaflets) bilayer is related to the phenomena of interleaflet coupling and is a function of cholesterol concentration probed by AFM can provide an unprecedented direction on mechanical properties of lipid membrane as it can be directly correlated to biophysical properties of a cell membrane.

Keywords: Asymmetry; Atomic Force Microscopy; Cholesterol; DOPC; Force spectroscopy; Lipid bilayer; Nanomechanical properties.