Phospholipid membranes are one of the most important components of biological systems involved in cellular signaling and building of cellular membranes. Raman spectroscopy is well-suited to study phospholipid membranes, particularly useful for investigating fluidity and conformational order in a bilayer. Raman spectroscopy has many advantages including: there is no need for sample preparation, it is non-invasive and non-destructive method that does not perturb the phospholipid environment, and it is relatively insensitive to aqueous media. The most characteristic features of Raman spectra of phospholipid membranes are related to the presence of long non-polar acyl chains in their structures. Their spectral frequency, intensity, and line-width of vibrational bands are extremely sensitive to structural alterations. In this study, we investigated the effect of important biomolecules, e.g., cholesterol and a common drug, on the behavior of 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DOPC) liposomes. By monitoring changes in relative peak intensities of Raman scattering, our results show that these molecules directly influence the lipid bilayer and perturb the molecular order of the self-assembly of the DOPC liposome, resulting in differences in acyl chain conformation and the corresponding intra- and intermolecular membrane order.

Biomolecular influence on a model lipid membrane: Raman spectral study

256th National Meeting (2018)

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