Mechanisms of membrane toxicity of hydrocarbons.

Membranes are the most common cellular structures in both plants and animals. They are now recognized as being involved in almost all aspects of cellular activity ranging from motility and food entrapment in simple unicellular organisms, to energy transduction, immunorecognition, nerve conduction and biosynthesis in plants and higher organisms. This functional diversity is reflected in the wide variety of lipids and particularly of proteins that compose different membranes. An understanding of the physical principles that govern the molecular organization of membranes is essential for an understanding of their physiological roles since structure and function are much more interdependent in membranes than in, say, simple chemical reactions in solution. We must recognize, however, that the word ‘understanding’ means different things in different disciplines, and nowhere is this more apparent than in this multidisciplinary area where biology, chemistry and physics meet.

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Physical principles of membrane organization.

Sterically stabilized liposomes

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses electrostatic potentials at membrane solution interfaces. Lipids in the membranes of all cells and subcellular organelles are arranged in the form of a bilayer with the hydrocarbon tails sequestered away from the water and the polar head groups exposed to the aqueous environment. About 10%–20% of the lipids in the membranes of many cells and organelles bear a net negative charge, whereas positively charged lipids are extremely rare. The concentration of monovalent cations at the surface of the bilayer will be an order of magnitude higher than the concentration of these ions in the bulk aqueous phase. The surface potential produced by charged lipids is dependent on the salt concentration in the bulk aqueous phase and a seminal paper. The absence of proteins, polysaccharides, and other macromolecules present in biological membranes can be considered an advantage to test how well the theory of the diffuse double layer describes the electrostatic potential produced by charges on lipids. The chapter describes hydrophobic adsorption of charged molecules to bilayer membranes, the electrostatic potential produced by molecular dipoles at membrane-solution interfaces, and the electrostatic boundary potential produced by charges located in the interior of the membrane, a few angstroms from the interface. Few examples of the possible biological significance of these electrostatic surface potentials are also described.

Electrostatic Potentials at Membrane-Solution Interfaces

Lipid composition and permeability of liposomes.

The physical properties of an effective lung surfactant

Cation Permeability of Phospholipid Model Membranes: Effect of Narcotics

Dry artificial lung surfactant and its effect on very premature babies

Randomized trial of artificial surfactant (ALEC) given at birth to babies from 23 to 34 weeks gestation

Premature newborn rabbits, delivered on day 27 of gestation, were treated with tracheal deposition of dry artificial surfactant containing dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine and unsaturated phosphatidylglycerol (7:3), or crude natural surfactant prepared by centrifugation of lung wash from adult rabbits. Before receiving surfactant, the animals were allowed to breathe for 7--27 min; they were then subjected to artificial ventilation under standardised conditions. In comparison with littermate controls, both groups of surfactant-treated animals showed statistically significant improvement in lung-compliance 30 and 60 min after onset of ventilation. However, necrosis of bronchiolar epithelium and hyaline membranes was present in nearly all animals, even in those treated with natural surfactant; this suggests that in order to prevent epithelial lesions, surfactant should be given as soon as possible and preferably at birth. Our findings confirm earlier observations that treatment with supplementary surfactant has a beneficial effect on lung mechanics in the premature neonate. The fact that this effect can be obtained not only with natural surfactant but also with dry artificial surfactant should increase the possibility of clinical application.

https://adc.bmj.com/content/archdischild/55/10/758.full.pdf

A.D. Bangham

Papers

The physical properties of an effective lung surfactant

Cation Permeability of Phospholipid Model Membranes: Effect of Narcotics

Dry artificial lung surfactant and its effect on very premature babies

Randomized trial of artificial surfactant (ALEC) given at birth to babies from 23 to 34 weeks gestation

Artificial surfactant and natural surfactant. Comparative study of the effects on premature rabbit lungs.