Interfaces and membranes such as the cell phospholipid membrane and mitochondrial membrane have important biochemical and biophysical roles aside of being barriers. Moreover, membranes contribute as microenvironment to synthesis and catalysis reactions, and the cell membrane also incorporates all the cell signaling components.

The biological biomembranes and interactions of analysts with biomembranes are studied in drug development, nanoparticle biological interaction, targeted drug delivery, gene therapy and personalized medicine. Biomembranes are often of great interest in fundamental biochemistry and biophysics research.

See five reasons to choose MP-SPR for biophysics:

• No artifacts from lipid swelling
• Easy lipid membrane formation on variety of substrates
• Membrane quality assessment
• Combination of MP-SPR with electrochemistry
• From measurements on biomembranes to measurements on living cells

See five key questions in biophysics that MP-SPR can answer:

• What is the kinetics of supported lipid bilayer formation?
• How does nanoparticle X interact with a biomembrane?
• How does a membrane protein (such as GPCR) interact with a drug?
• What is the quality (thickness and optical density) of the biomembrane?
• How stable is a membrane system in air?

See selected Application Notes to see that MP-SPR works:

• AN#167 Capture of T-cells and analysis of membrane receptor affinity with biofunctionalized lipid sensor
• AN#164 Affinity and kinetics of extracellular vesicles – protein interaction
• AN#157 Detection of toxin induced pore formation in membranes
• AN#152 Drug delivery nanocarrier studies using MP-SPR
• AN#151 MP-SPR measurements of soft and hard corona on nanoparticle in 100% serum
• AN#147 Analyzing dissociation kinetics of IgG from protein A using MP-SPR and PureKinetics™
• AN#139 Liposomes attachment on the sensor surface – thickness and refractive index ensure the layer conformation
• AN#137 Drug interaction with cell monolayer measured with MP-SPR

See the animation of MP-SPR characterization of nanoparticle interaction with a lipid bilayer and with liposomes!

 Selected publications:

• Partitioning of Catechol Derivatives in Lipid Membranes: Implications for Substrate Specificity to Catechol-O-methyltransferase, Parkkila et al., ACS Chemical Neuroscience, 2020
• Two-dimensional label-free affinity analysis of tumor-specific CD8 T cells with a biomimetic plasmonic sensor, Soler et al., ACS Sensors, 2018
• Multi-parametric surface plasmon resonance platform for studying liposome-serum interactions and protein corona formation, Kari et al., Drug Delivery and Translational Research, 2016
• Differential Effect of Membrane Composition on the Pore-Forming Ability of Four Different Sea Anemone Actinoporins, García-Linares et al., Biochemistry, 2016
• Cholesterol stimulates and ceramide inhibits Sticholysin II-induced pore formation in complex bilayer membranes, Alm et al., Biochimica et Biophysica Acta, 2015
• Control of the Morphology of Lipid Layers by Substrate Surface Chemistry, Granqvist et al, Langmuir, 2014
• Vesicular and non-vesicular transport feed distinct glycosylation pathways in the Golgi, Angelo et al. Nature, 2013

What our users say about MP-SPR for lipid measurements:

In-situ capture of T-cells and analysis of membrane receptor affinity with biofunctionalized lipid sensor

Application Note #167

 

Assessment of T-cell specificity to tumor associated antigens is crucial for the development of personalized immunotherapies against cancer. Multi-Parametric Surface Plasmon Resonance (MP-SPR) was applied for characterization of interaction of T-cell receptors (TCR) from tumor-specific CD8+ T-cells. Intact live cells were captured onto biomimetic surfaces composed of artificial cell membranes functionalized with peptide-major histocompatibility complexes (pMHC). Real-time affinity analysis of immunological synapse formation betweenTCR and pMHC was completed from 4 different T-cell populations.

Recommended MP-SPR instruments for this application:

Supported lipid layers characterization with MP-SPR

Application Note #139

Figure 2. Change in SPR peak minimum angle during lipid deposition, From left to right: SLB formation on SiO2 surface, SLV formation on PEG-SAM surface and SLB formation on 6kDa dextran surface.

Multi-Parametric Surface Plasmon Resonance (MP-SPR) was used to characterize lipid layer structures adsorbed on a different substrates. Silicon dioxide and low molecule weight dextran surfaces supported formation of lipid bilayer (SLB) whereas thiolated polyethylene glycol supported vesicular layer formation (SLV). Thickness and refractive index of deposited lipid layer was calculated: SLB was about 5nm thick layer whereas SLV was 10nm thick layer.

Recommended instrument for this application:

See five reasons to choose MP-SPR for biophysics.