TY - JOUR A1 - Dahmani, Ismail A1 - Ludwig, Kai A1 - Chiantia, Salvatore T1 - Influenza A matrix protein M1 induces lipid membrane deformation via protein multimerization JF - Bioscience Reports N2 - The matrix protein M1 of the Influenza A virus (IAV) is supposed to mediate viral assembly and budding at the plasma membrane (PM) of infected cells. In order for a new viral particle to form, the PM lipid bilayer has to bend into a vesicle toward the extracellular side. Studies in cellular models have proposed that different viral proteins might be responsible for inducing membrane curvature in this context (including M1), but a clear consensus has not been reached. In the present study, we use a combination of fluorescence microscopy, cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM), cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) and scanning fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (sFCS) to investigate M1-induced membrane deformation in biophysical models of the PM. Our results indicate that M1 is indeed able to cause membrane curvature in lipid bilayers containing negatively charged lipids, in the absence of other viral components. Furthermore, we prove that protein binding is not sufficient to induce membrane restructuring. Rather, it appears that stable M1–M1 interactions and multimer formation are required in order to alter the bilayer three-dimensional structure, through the formation of a protein scaffold. Finally, our results suggest that, in a physiological context,M1-induced membrane deformation might be modulated by the initial bilayer curvature and the lateral organization of membrane components (i.e. the presence of lipid domains). KW - confocal microscopy KW - influenza KW - lipid membranes KW - membranes KW - protein-protein interactions KW - viral matrix proteins Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1042/BSR20191024 SN - 0144-8463 SN - 1573-4935 VL - 39 IS - 8 PB - Portland Press CY - Colchester ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mertens, Monique A1 - Hilsch, Malte A1 - Haralampiev, Ivan A1 - Volkmer, Rudolf A1 - Wessig, Pablo A1 - Müller, Peter T1 - Synthesis and characterization of a new Bifunctionalized, Fluorescent, and Amphiphilic molecule for recruiting SH-Containing molecules to membranes JF - ChemBioChem N2 - This study describes the synthesis and characterization of an amphiphilic construct intended to recruit SH-containing molecules to membranes. The construct consists of 1)an aliphatic chain to enable anchoring within membranes, 2)a maleimide moiety to react with the sulfhydryl group of a soluble (bio)molecule, and 3)a fluorescence moiety to allow the construct to be followed by fluorescence spectroscopy and microscopy. It is shown that the construct can be incorporated into preformed membranes, thus allowing application of the approach with biological membranes. The close proximity between the fluorophore and the maleimide moiety within the construct causes fluorescence quenching. This allows monitoring of the reaction with SH-containing molecules by measurement of increases in fluorescence intensity and lifetime. Notably, the construct distributes into laterally ordered membrane domains of lipid vesicles, which is probably triggered by the length of its membrane anchor. The advantages of the new construct can be employed for several biological, biotechnological, and medicinal applications. KW - DBD dyes KW - fatty acids KW - liposomes KW - maleimide KW - membranes KW - palmitoylation Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/cbic.201800268 SN - 1439-4227 SN - 1439-7633 VL - 19 IS - 15 SP - 1643 EP - 1647 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Haralampiev, Ivan A1 - Mertens, Monique A1 - Schwarzer, Roland A1 - Herrmann, Andreas A1 - Volkmer, Rudolf A1 - Wessig, Pablo A1 - Mueller, Peter T1 - Recruitment of SH-Containing peptides to lipid and biological membranes through the use of a palmitic acid functionalized with a Maleimide Group JF - Angewandte Chemie : a journal of the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker ; International edition N2 - This study presents a novel and easily applicable approach to recruit sulfhydryl-containing biomolecules to membranes by using a palmitic acid which is functionalized with a maleimide group. Notably, this strategy can also be employed with preformed (biological) membranes. The applicability of the assay is demonstrated by characterizing the binding of a Rhodamine-labeled peptide to lipid and cellular membranes using methods of fluorescence spectroscopy, lifetime measurement, and microscopy. Our approach offers new possibilities for preparing biologically active liposomes and manipulating living cells. KW - liposomes KW - maleimide KW - membranes KW - palmitic acid KW - palmitoylation KW - peptides Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201408089 SN - 1433-7851 SN - 1521-3773 VL - 54 IS - 1 SP - 323 EP - 326 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wessig, Pablo A1 - Gerngroß, Maik A1 - Pape, Simon A1 - Bruhns, Philipp A1 - Weber, Jens T1 - Novel porous materials based on oligospiroketals (OSK) JF - RSC Advances : an international journal to further the chemical sciences N2 - New porous materials based on covalently connected monomers are presented. The key step of the synthesis is an acetalisation reaction. In previous years we used acetalisation reactions extensively to build up various molecular rods. Based on this approach, investigations towards porous polymeric materials were conducted by us. Here we wish to present the results of these studies in the synthesis of 1D polyacetals and porous 3D polyacetals. By scrambling experiments with 1D acetals we could prove that exchange reactions occur between different building blocks (evidenced by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry). Based on these results we synthesized porous 3D polyacetals under the same mild conditions. KW - microporous organic polymers KW - molecular rods KW - construction KW - frameworks KW - membranes KW - sorption KW - models Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1039/c4ra04437a SN - 2046-2069 VL - 2014 IS - 4 SP - 31123 EP - 31129 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Grimm, Christiane A1 - Meyer, Thomas A1 - Czapla, Sylvia A1 - Nikolaus, Jörg A1 - Scheidt, Holger A. A1 - Vogel, Alexander A1 - Herrmann, Andreas A1 - Wessig, Pablo A1 - Huster, Daniel A1 - Müller, Peter T1 - Structure and dynamics of molecular rods in membranes application of a Spin-Labeled rod JF - Chemistry - a European journal N2 - Molecular rods consisting of a hydrophobic backbone and terminally varying functional groups have been synthesized for applications for the functionalization of membranes. In the present study, we employ a spin-labeled analogue of a recently described new class of molecular rods to characterize their dynamic interactions with membranes. By using the different approaches of ESR and NMR spectroscopy, we show that the spin moiety of the membrane-embedded spin-labeled rod is localized in the upper chain/glycerol region of membranes of different compositions. The rod is embedded within the membrane in a tilted orientation to adjust for the varying hydrophobic thicknesses of these bilayers. This orientation does not perturb the membrane structure. The water solubility of the rod is increased significantly in the presence of certain cyclodextrins. These cyclodextrins also allow the rods to be extracted from the membrane and incorporated into preformed membranes. The latter will improve the future applications of these rods in cellular systems as stable membrane-associated anchors for the functionalization of membrane surfaces. KW - hydrophobic mismatch KW - membranes KW - molecular rods KW - phospholipids KW - spiro compounds Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.201202500 SN - 0947-6539 VL - 19 IS - 8 SP - 2703 EP - 2710 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim ER -