Objective
Biological cell membranes consist essentially of lipids and biopolymers (proteins).These structures are stabilized by mainly two kinds of interactions:van der Waals and charge-charge interactions.Cell membranes are complex systems and it has not been easy to determine these different interactions quantitatively.
The aim of this project is to achieve this goal by using the model membrane monolayer method. The different forces (e.g. van der Waals & charge-charge interactions) which stabilize these structures, and control the function will be estimated. Selected lipids and peptides with the well known charactersitics will be investigated as spread monolayers at the surface of water. Peptides which will be investigated are those with two different kinds of properties:
ionophore peptides ;
virus fusion peptides. Since both kinds of peptides form stable monolayers on the surface of water, the theoretical analyses will be the same. The equation of state for the two-dimensional films will be derived, which will thus include the different forces which are responsible for the stablility of these self-assembly structures.
van der Waals forces: The lipid-protein interactions in the biological membranes are primarily governed by the hydrophobic interactions. The magnitude of van der Waals interactions can be estimated from monolayer studies,and their significance to biological processes will be explained. For instance, the virus-cell fusion involves peptides which mediate the first interaction step.The magnitude of van der Waals forces involved in fusion will be estimated. Electrostatic interactions:The problem of ion transport in biological cell membrane is central to understanding many current important issues in chemistry and biology.Although experimental and theoretical progress is being made toward elucidating the structure and dynamics of ion transport through channels in membranes, there is still not reached a detailed understanding of atomic and mollar motion in these channels.
It is known that monolayers can exhibit two different kinds of charge-charge interactions: (a) diffuse charge model and (b) discrete charge model. Theoretical models will be developed and applied to the measured data of ionophore peptide monolayers. Further, the application of scanning tunnelling microscope(STM) & atomic force microscope (AFM) to these structures would provide a direct information about the mollar conformations.
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Programme(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
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Coordinator
2100 Copenhagen
Denmark
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.