• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.12 no.2
• /
• pp.121-128
• /
• 2002

The object of this study was to investigate the effect of membrane fluidity of bellflower(Platycodon grandiflorum A. DC, ; PG) fractions in phosphatidylcholine(PC) liposomes, measured with high-sensitivity differential scanning calorimetry(DSC). We used dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine(DPPC) bilayers which slake most stable liposomes among the other phosphatidylcholine. The sample PG was extracted and fractionated to five different types : butanol(PGMB), ethylacetate(PGMEA), ethylether(PGMEE), hexane (PGMH) and methanol(PGMM). Among five different solvent fractions, the PGMEE, PGMEA, PGMH and PGMM fractions markedly affected the thermotropic properties of DPPC liposomes, broadened and shifted the thermograms, and reduced the cooperative unit. It might be said that the incorporation of PGMEE, PGMEA and PGMH in DPPC liposomes were located in the hydrophobic core of DPPC bilayers and, PGMM and PGMB in the hydrophilic core of DPPC bilayers. These results suggest that certain substances in the PGMEE, PGMEA and PGMH fractions might have biologically significant effect on the membrane fluidity.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.27 no.1
• /
• pp.15-22
• /
• 2017

Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans), which plays a major role in the etiology of human dental caries, is able to tolerate exposure to acid shock in addition to its acidogenicity. We investigated the effects of pH stress on membrane fluidity, activities and expression levels of F-ATPase, and proton permeability in S. mutans. Using 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene, we observed membrane ordering at pH 4.8 and pH 8.8. The ordering effects were larger at pH 4.8 in cytoplasmic membranes isolated from S. mutans (CMSM). Increasing pH resulted in a decrease in the activities and expression levels of F-ATPase. The proton permeability was decreased at both acidic and alkaline pHs, and the lowest permeability was observed at pH 4.8. The lower permeability at pH 8.8 than pH 6.8 is likely to be caused by the decreased proton influx due to the decreased CMSM fluidity. In addition, it seems to be evident that extremely low permeability at pH 4.8 was caused by the decreased proton influx due to the decreased CMSM fluidity as well as the increased proton efflux due to the increased activity and expression level of F-ATPase. It is likely that CMSM fluidity and F-ATPase activity are two major key factors that determine proton permeability in S. mutans. We suggest that CMSM fluidity plays an important role in the determination of proton permeability, which sheds light on the possibility of using nonspecific membrane fluidizers, e.g., ethanol, for anti-caries purposes.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
• /
• v.30 no.4
• /
• pp.646-650
• /
• 2001

In this study, we investigated the thermotropic behavior of Daucus carota L. (DCS) extracts in phosphatidylcholine(PC) liposomes using high-sensitivity differential scanning calorimetry (nano-DSC). We used dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) bilayers which made most stable liposomes among the other phosphatidylcholine. The sample DCS was extracted and fractionated to four different types, hexane(DCSMH), ethylacetate (DCSMEA), butanol (DCSMB) and aqueous(DCSMA) fractions. Compared to the other fractions of Daucus carota L., the DCSMH and DCSMEA fractions markedly affected the thermotropic properties of DPPC liposomes, broadened and shifted the thermograms of transition to lower temperatures. The incorporation of DCSMH and DCSMEA in DPPC liposomes were preferentially located in the hydrophobic core of DPPC bilayers, where it reduced the lipid packing orderness (cooperative unit) in the gel state compared to it in the liquid-crystalline state. These results suggest that the activities of the Daucus carota L. extracts to enhance the fluidity of the liposomal membrane have implication in their biological activities.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
• /
• v.36 no.11
• /
• pp.1119-1126
• /
• 2012

The collective behavior of bacteria plays an important role in biofilm development. In this study, the fluidic properties of biofilms formed in Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis) colonies were compared by visualizing 200-nm fluorescent beads that were initially embedded in an agar plate and distributed spontaneously on the upper surface of the growing colonies. We conducted experiments to measure the three-dimensional profile of the E. coli colony using fluorescent microbeads that did not flow in the colony. Vortical flow patterns near the edge of the B. subtilis colony were observed clearly by tracking the movement of the beads in the biofilm of the colony. The present study should be the first step toward determining the effect of fluidic biofilms on the growth and swarming dynamics of bacteria.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
• /
• v.28 no.2
• /
• pp.177-185
• /
• 2017

In the present work, the interaction of fatty acid with vesicle membrane of phospholipids was investigated using 3 different kinds of fatty acids such as stearic acid (SA), oleic acid (OA) and linoleic acid (LA). Basically, the same trend has been found in 3 fatty acid systems. The addition of fatty acid produced a close packing of liposome due to the penetration of fatty acid molecules into liposome vesicles, which resulted in a decrease in size and an increase in zeta potential of liposome. However, excessive addition of fatty acid produced a transition from liposomes to aggregates of lipid particles having polymorphic structure. The membrane fluidity, characterized by measuring membrane deformability and fluorescence anisotropy ratio of liposomes, was in good agreement with measurement results of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and particle size. The minimum size and closest packing of liposome with SA, OA and LA were found when the molar ratios of fatty acid to lecithin were 0.70, 0.50, and 0.25 respectively.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.12 no.6
• /
• pp.769-779
• /
• 2002

Although negative evidences of trans fatty acids(tFAs) are gradually increasing, the hypercholesterolemic effect of tFAs are controversial and its biological significances are still not known. The objective of this study was to examine the effect of dietary tFAs on cholesterol metabolism and membrane fluidity in rats. Animals were fed diets containing 0.5% cholesterol and 20% test fats(margarine, butter, corn oil) for 8 weeks. Each test fats(margarine, butter, corn oil) contained 25%, 8.5% and no tFAs, respectively, Plasma total triglyceride(TG) were not different among diet treatments. Feeding trans fat diets (margarine and butter) lowered plasma cholesterol. Specially, butter diet elevated LDL-cholesterol and decreased HDL-cholesterol levels, resulting in the highest atherogenic index among diet treatments. Hepatic cholesterol concentration and HMG CoA reductase activity were also decreased, whereas fecal excretion of cholesterol was increased in trans fat-fed animals. trans fat containing diets also decreased hepatic membrane fluidity. From these results, it can be concluded that hypercholesterolemic effect of tFAs can be modulated by the fatty acid composition of diets, but its spatial cofiguration may help behave like saturated fatty acid in membrane fluidity.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nutrition Society Conference
• /
• 2004.05a
• /
• pp.116-116
• /
• 2004

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
• /
• v.35 no.3
• /
• pp.230-238
• /
• 2024

In the present work, the interaction of lipid-based zwitterionic surfactant CDP-W with the vesicle membrane of phospholipids was investigated. For this purpose, interfacial properties such as critical micelle concentration (CMC) and surface tension were measured for the zwitterionic surfactant CDP-W and lecithin S100-3. The zeta potential of 1 wt% aqueous surfactant solutions was also measured as a function of pH to determine the iso-electric point of CDP-W surfactant, where the characteristic of CDP-W surfactant changes from a cationic surfactant to an anionic surfactant. Based on the iso-electric point measurement of CDP-W surfactant, the effects of pH change and CDP-W addition on the stability of S100-3 liposome systems were studied, such as average particle size, polydispersity index (PDI), and zeta potential. The effect of CDP-W on the fluidity characteristics of liposome membranes such as fluorescence anisotropy ratio, deformability, and melting point was investigated at pH 6 where the most stable liposomes were prepared to understand the effect of the fluidity of the liposome membrane on the encapsulation efficiency of active materials and the stability of liposome systems.

• Membrane Journal
• /
• v.27 no.3
• /
• pp.205-215
• /
• 2017

Polymer membranes are cheap and easy in fabrication, and show a high permeability and selectivity, thus play pivotal roles in gas separation as well as water purification. However, polymer membranes typically exhibit the trade-off relation between permeability and selectivity; i.e. when the permeability is high, the selectivity is low and vice versa. Facilitated transport has been considered one of the solutions to address this issue. Over the last decades, facilitated transport concept had played an important role in preparing the membranes and providing ideal and various models for the transport. Understanding the nature of carrier, the mobility of matrix and the physico-chemical properties of polymer composites are crucial for facilitated transport. Depending on the mobility of carrier, facilitated transport membrane is classified into three; mobile carrier membrane, semi-mobile carrier membrane, fixed-site carrier membrane. Also, there are four types of reversible reaction between the carrier and the specific target; proton transfer reaction, nucleophilic addition reaction, p-complexation reaction and electrochemical reaction. The facilitated transport membranes have been applied in the separation of CO2, O2 and olefin (propylene or ethylene). In this review, major challenges surrounding facilitated transport membranes and the strategies to tackle these challenges are given in detail.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.13 no.5
• /
• pp.692-698
• /
• 2003

This study was designed to investigate the effects of ethyl acetate (EtOAc) fraction of pine (Pinus densiflora Sieb et Zucc) needle on membrane fluidity (MF), basal and induced oxygen radical (BOR and IOR), lipid peroxide (LPO) and oxidized protein (OP) as a oxidative stress, and lipofuscin (LF) in brain membranes of Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. Male SD rats were fed basic diets (control) and experimental diets (EtOAc-25, EtOAc-50 and EtOAc-100) for 45 days. MF was significantly increased (about 10%) in mitochondria of EtOAc-100 group. BOR and IOR formations in mitochondria were significantly inhibited (about 9∼10% and 17∼24%, respectively) in EtOAc-50 and EtOAc-100 groups, while BOR and IOR formations in microsomes were significantly inhibited (about 12∼17% and 12∼16%, respectively) in EtOAc-50 and EtOAc-100 groups compared with control group. LPO levels in mitochondria and microsomes were significantly inhibited (about 9∼l2% and 12∼19%, respectively) in EtOAc-50 and EtOAc-100 groups, whereas significant difference between OP or LF levels and control group in these membranes could not be obtained. These results suggest that administrations of ethyl acetate fraction of pine needle may play an effective role in an attenuating an oxidative stress and in increasing membrane fluidity.