Micron-scale phase segregation in lipid monolayers induced by myelin basic protein in the presence of cholesterol

C.M.ROSETTI, B. MAGGIO AND N. WILKE

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Año: 2010 vol. 1798 p. 498 - 498

t was previously shown that myelin basic protein (MBP) can induce phase segregation in whole myelinmonolayers and myelin lipid films, which leads to the accumulation of proteins into a separate phase,segregated from a cholesterol-enriched lipid phase. In this work we investigated some factors regulating thephase segregation induced by MBP using fluorescent microscopy of monolayers formed with binary andternary lipid mixtures of dihydrocholesterol (a less-oxidable cholesterol analog) and phospholipids. Theinfluence of the addition of salts to the subphase and of varying the lipid composition was analyzed. Ourresults show that MBP can induce a dihydrocholesterol-dependent segregation of phases that can be furtherregulated by the electrolyte concentration in the subphase and the composition (type and proportion) ofnon-sterol lipids. In this way, changes of the lipid composition of the film or the ionic strength in the aqueousmedia mod