Relationship between Viscosity and Acyl Tail Dynamics in Lipid Bilayers

Published

August 12, 2021

Author(s)

Michihiro Nagao, Elizabeth Kelley, Antonio Faraone, Makina Saito, Yoshitaka Yoda, Masayuki Kurokuzu, Shinichi Takata, Makoto Seto, Paul Butler

Abstract

Membrane viscosity is a fundamental property that controls molecular transport and structural rearrangements in lipid membranes. Given its importance in many cell processes, various experimental and computational methods have been developed to measure the membrane viscosity, yet the estimated values highly depend on the method and vary by orders of magnitude. Here we investigate the molecular origins of membrane viscosity by measuring the nanoscale dynamics of the lipid acyl tails using X-ray and neutron spectroscopy techniques. The results show that the membrane viscosity can be estimated from the measured relaxation times and directly linked to the structural relaxations of the lipid tails.

Citation

Physical Review Letters

Volume

127

Issue

7

Pub Type

Journals

Keywords

lipid, transport property, membrane viscosity, structural relaxation, neutron spin echo, Mössbauer time-domain interferometry

Citation

Nagao, M. , Kelley, E. , Faraone, A. , Saito, M. , Yoda, Y. , Kurokuzu, M. , Takata, S. , Seto, M. and Butler, P. (2021), Relationship between Viscosity and Acyl Tail Dynamics in Lipid Bilayers, Physical Review Letters (Accessed April 19, 2024)