Crystalline polymorphism induced by charge regulation in ionic membranes

Abstract

The crystallization of molecules with polar and hydrophobic groups, such as ionic amphiphiles and proteins, is of paramount importance in biology and biotechnology. By coassembling dilysine (+2) and carboxylate (-1) amphiphiles of various tail lengths into bilayer membranes at different pH values, we show that the 2D crystallization process in amphiphile membranes can be controlled by modifying the competition of long-range and shortrange interactions among the polar and the hydrophobic groups. The pH and the hydrophobic tail length modify the intermolecular packing and the symmetry of their crystalline phase. For hydrophobic tail lengths of 14 carbons (C 14 ), we observe the coassembly into crystalline bilayers with hexagonal molecular ordering via in situ small-and wide-angle X-ray scattering. As the tail length increases, the hexagonal lattice spacing decreases due to an increase in van der Waals interactions, as demonstrated by atomistic molecular dynamics simulations. For C 16 and C 18 we observe a reentrant crystalline phase transition sequence, hexagonalrectangular-C-rectangular-P-rectangular-C-hexagonal, as the solution pH is increased from 3 to 10.5. The stability of the rectangular phases, which maximize tail packing, increases with increasing tail length. As a result, for very long tails (C 22 ), the possibility of observing packing symmetries other than rectangular-C phases diminishes. Our work demonstrates that it is possible to systematically exchange chemical and mechanical energy by changing the solution pH value within a range of physiological conditions at room temperature in bilayers of molecules with ionizable groups.amphiphilic membranes | self-assembly | hydrophobic interaction N ature uses electrostatic interactions among positively and negatively charged groups to induce the organization of biomolecules into highly complex structures that respond to ionic changes (1, 2). The structure of the aggregates at specific ionic conditions is intimately related to its function. Therefore, understanding the mechanisms that control the structure of molecules with hydrophobic and polar groups at physiological conditions is of great importance in molecular biology and biotechnology. In particular, amphiphilic molecules that have polar ionizable groups, such as proteins and lipids, can change their structures and functions in response to the pH and the concentration of ions in the solution (3), thereby affecting their physical properties and functions. For example, the structure of lipid membranes affects the structure and activity of membrane-bound proteins (4-6). Furthermore, the intermolecular packing density and structure are known to affect the molecular diffusion rates of water and ions across membranes (7,8). Changing the packing density of molecules within membranes could also be useful for controlling encapsulation and release efficiency of molecules inside a vesicle (9). Additionally the spacing between amphiphilic molecules within a membrane may control the capacity to encapsulate or release...

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