Boundary potential of lipid bilayers: methods and interpretations

The electric field distribution at the boundaries of cell membrane consists of diffuse part of the electrical double layer and the potential drop over polar area inside the membrane itself. The latter is generally attributed to the dipole effect, which depends on the lipid hydration and phase state. This report focuses on the experimental approaches developed to detect the relation between dipole effects and the bilayer structure, and to study their molecular nature. The total boundary potential (BP) of planar bilayer lipid membranes (BLM) can be controlled by Intramembranous Field Compensation (IFC) method developed in our laboratory. When combined with electrokinetic measurements in liposome suspension it allows detecting the changes of the dipole potential due to adsorption of inorganic cations and charged molecules. Multivalent inorganic cations increase the dipole potential up to 100-150 mV and make the membrane rigid. Most of these observations were simulated by Molecular Dynamics (MD) in order to visualize the relationship of electric field with the different structural factors (lipid structure, water orientation, ion adsorption etc.) responsible for its dipole component. Two principal contributors to BP -water and lipid molecules -create the opposite effects. The negative contribution with respect to the bulk is due to lipid itself and the inorganic cation penetration into the polar area of membrane. The positive contribution is caused by water orientation. Particularly, in the case of lysine adsorption, the contribution of water includes the rearrangement of H-bonds with the lipid phosphate group. This fact explains well the unusual kinetic phenomena registered by IFC in the case of polylysine adsorption at the BLM surface.