Understanding interactions of calcium with lipid membranes at the molecular level is of great importance in light of their involvement in calcium signaling, association of proteins with cellular membranes, and membrane fusion. We quantify these interactions in detail by employing a combination of spectroscopic methods with atomistic molecular dynamics simulations. Namely, time-resolved fluorescent spectroscopy of lipid vesicles and vibrational sum frequency spectroscopy of lipid monolayers are used to characterize local binding sites of calcium in zwitterionic and anionic model lipid assemblies, while dynamic light scattering and zeta potential measurements are employed for macroscopic characterization of lipid vesicles in calcium-containing environments. To gain additional atomic-level information, the experiments are complemented by molecular simulations that utilize an accurate force field for calcium ions with scaled charges effectively accounting for electronic polarization effects. We demonstrate that lipid membranes have substantial calcium-binding capacity, with several types of binding sites present. Significantly, the binding mode depends on calcium concentration with important implications for calcium buffering, synaptic plasticity, and protein-membrane association.

Strong coupling interactions between plasmon and exciton-based excitations have been proposed to be useful in the design of optoelectronic systems. However, the role of various optical parameters dictating the plasmon-exciton (plexciton) interactions is less understood. Herein, we propose an inequality for achieving strong coupling between plasmons and excitons through appropriate variation of their oscillator strengths and spectral widths. These aspects are found to be consistent with experiments on two sets of free-standing plexcitonic systems obtained by (i) linking fluorescein isothiocyanate on Ag nanoparticles of varying sizes through silane coupling and (ii) electrostatic binding of cyanine dyes on polystyrenesulfonate-coated Au nanorods of varying aspect ratios. Being covalently linked on Ag nanoparticles, fluorescein isothiocyanate remains in monomeric state, and its high oscillator strength and narrow spectral width enable us to approach the strong coupling limit. In contrast, in the presence of polystyrenesulfonate, monomeric forms of cyanine dyes exist in equilibrium with their aggregates: Coupling is not observed for monomers and H-aggregates whose optical parameters are unfavorable. The large aggregation number, narrow spectral width, and extremely high oscillator strength of J-aggregates of cyanines permit effective delocalization of excitons along the linear assembly of chromophores, which in turn leads to efficient coupling with the plasmons. Further, the results obtained from experiments and theoretical models are jointly employed to describe the plexcitonic states, estimate the coupling strengths, and rationalize the dispersion curves. The experimental results and the theoretical analysis presented here portray a way forward to the rational design of plexcitonic systems attaining the strong coupling limits.

Why oil and water do not mix It is well known that oil forms stable droplets that carry a negative electrophoretic mobility (and negative charge) upon dispersing in water. However, the underlying mechanism is a long-debated topic. Using vibrational sum-frequency scattering spectroscopy, Pullanchery et al . recorded the interfacial vibrational spectrum in the oxygen–deuterium and carbon–hydrogen stretching regions of a hexadecane–water interface. Their spectral analysis accompanied by molecular dynamics simulations showed that water molecules form “improper” interfacial hydrogen bonds with alkyl hydrogens, resulting in the water-to-oil charge transfer that stabilizes oil droplets. This work demonstrates that sum-frequency scattering spectroscopy is a powerful technique that can improve our understanding of hydrophobicity in water-mediated chemical and biological systems. —YS

Herein, the apparent equilibrium dissociation constant, K(Dapp), between Cu(2+) and 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phospho-l-serine (POPS), a negatively charged phospholipid, was measured as a function of PS concentrations in supported lipid bilayers (SLBs). The results indicated that K(Dapp) for Cu(2+) binding to PS-containing SLBs was enhanced by a factor of 17,000 from 110 nM to 6.4 pM as the PS density in the membrane was increased from 1.0 to 20 mol %. Although Cu(2+) bound bivalently to POPS at higher PS concentrations, this was not the dominant factor in increasing the binding affinity. Rather, the higher concentration of Cu(2+) within the double layer above the membrane was largely responsible for the tightening. Unlike the binding of other divalent metal ions such as Ca(2+) and Mg(2+) to PS, Cu(2+) binding does not alter the net negative charge on the membrane as the Cu(PS)2 complex forms. As such, the Cu(2+) concentration within the double layer region was greatly amplified relative to its concentration in bulk solution as the PS density was increased. This created a far larger enhancement to the apparent binding affinity than is observed by standard multivalent effects. These findings should help provide an understanding on the extent of Cu(2+)-PS binding in cell membranes, which may be relevant to biological processes such as amyloid-β peptide toxicity and lipid oxidation.

Ibuprofen (IBU) interacts with phosphatidylcholine membranes in three distinct steps as a function of concentration. In a first step (<10 μM), IBU electrostatically adsorbs to the lipid headgroups and gradually decreases the interfacial potential. This first step helps to facilitate the second step (10-300 μM), in which hydrophobic insertion of the drug occurs. The second step disrupts the packing of the lipid acyl chains and expands the area per lipid. In a final step, above 300 μM IBU, the lipid membrane begins to solubilize, resulting in a detergent-like effect. The results described herein were obtained by a combination of fluorescence binding assays, vibrational sum frequency spectroscopy, and Langmuir monolayer compression experiments. By introducing trimethylammonium-propane, phosphatidylglycerol, and phosphatidylethanolamine lipids as well as cholesterol, we demonstrated that both the chemistry of the lipid headgroups and the packing of lipid acyl chains can substantially influence the interactions between IBU and the membranes. Moreover, different membrane chemistries can alter particular steps in the binding interaction.