scholarly journals Separation of the osmotically driven fusion event from vesicle-planar membrane attachment in a model system for exocytosis.

1984 ◽  
Vol 98 (3) ◽  
pp. 1063-1071 ◽  
Author(s):  
M H Akabas ◽  
F S Cohen ◽  
A Finkelstein
Keyword(s):  
Divalent Cations ◽  
Model System ◽  
Second Step ◽  
Planar Bilayer ◽  
Fusion Event ◽  
Osmotic Swelling ◽  
Bilayer Membranes ◽  
Membrane Attachment ◽  
Planar Membrane ◽  
Planar Membranes

We demonstrate that there are two experimentally distinguishable steps in the fusion of phospholipid vesicles with planar bilayer membranes. In the first step, the vesicles form a stable, tightly bound pre-fusion state with the planar membrane; divalent cations (Ca++) are required for the formation of this state if the vesicular and/or planar membrane contain negatively charged lipids. In the second step, the actual fusion of vesicular and planar membranes occurs. The driving force for this step is the osmotic swelling of vesicles attached (in the pre-fusion state) to the planar membrane. We suggest that osmotic swelling of vesicles may also be crucial for biological fusion and exocytosis.

scholarly journals Fusion of phospholipid vesicles with planar phospholipid bilayer membranes. II. Incorporation of a vesicular membrane marker into the planar membrane.

1980 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 251-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
F S Cohen ◽  
J Zimmerberg ◽  
A Finkelstein
Keyword(s):  
Divalent Cations ◽  
Phospholipid Bilayer ◽  
Phospholipid Vesicles ◽  
Osmotic Gradient ◽  
Bilayer Membranes ◽  
Fusion Procedure ◽  
Vesicular Membrane ◽  
Membrane Contact ◽  
Planar Membrane ◽  
Planar Membranes

Fusion of multilamellar phospholipid vesicles with planar phospholipid bilayer membranes was monitored by the rate of appearance in the planar membrane of an intrinsic membrane protein present in the vesicle membranes. An essential requirement for fusion is an osmotic gradient across the planar membrane, with the cis side (the side containing the vesicles) hyperosmotic to the opposite (trans) side; for substantial fusion rates, divalent cation must also be present on the cis side. Thus, the low fusion rates obtained with 100 mM excess glucose in the cis compartment are enhanced orders of magnitude by the addition of 5-10 mM CaCl2 to the cis compartment. Conversely, the rapid fusion rates induced by 40 mM CaCl2 in the cis compartment are completely suppressed when the osmotic gradient (created by the 40 mM CaCl2) is abolished by addition of an equivalent amount of either CaCl2, NaCl, urea, or glucose to the trans compartment. We propose that fusion occurs by the osmotic swelling of vesicles in contact with the planar membrane, with subsequent rupture of the vesicular and planar membranes in the region of contact. Divalent cations catalyze this process by increasing the frequency and duration of vesicle-planar membrane contact. We argue that essentially this same osmotic mechanism drives biological fusion processes, such as exocytosis. Our fusion procedure provides a general method for incorporating and reconstituting transport proteins into planar phospholipid bilayer membranes.

scholarly journals Parameters affecting the fusion of unilamellar phospholipid vesicles with planar bilayer membranes.

1984 ◽  
Vol 98 (3) ◽  
pp. 1054-1062 ◽  
Author(s):  
F S Cohen ◽  
M H Akabas ◽  
J Zimmerberg ◽  
A Finkelstein
Keyword(s):  
Divalent Cation ◽  
Phospholipid Bilayer ◽  
Fusion Process ◽  
Phospholipid Vesicles ◽  
Osmotic Gradient ◽  
Planar Bilayer ◽  
Unilamellar Vesicles ◽  
Bilayer Membranes ◽  
Planar Membrane ◽  
Planar Membranes

It was previously shown (Cohen, F. S., J. Zimmerberg, and A. Finkelstein, 1980, J. Gen. Physiol., 75:251-270) that multilamellar phospholipid vesicles can fuse with decane-containing phospholipid bilayer membranes. An essential requirement for fusion was an osmotic gradient across the planar membrane, with the vesicle-containing (cis) side hyperosmotic with respect to the opposite (trans) side. We now report that unilamellar vesicles will fuse with "hydrocarbon-free" membranes subject to these same osmotic conditions. Thus the same conditions that apply to fusion of multilamellar vesicles with planar bilayer membranes also apply to fusion of unilamellar vesicles with these membranes, and hydrocarbon is not required for the fusion process. If the vesicles and/or planar membrane contain negatively charged lipids, divalent cation (approximately 15 mM Ca++) is required in the cis compartment (in addition to the osmotic gradient across the membrane) to obtain substantial fusion rates. On the other hand, vesicles made from uncharged lipids readily fuse with planar phosphatidylethanolamine planar membranes in the near absence of divalent cation with just an osmotic gradient. Vesicles fuse much more readily with phosphatidylethanolamine-containing than with phosphatidylcholine-containing planar membranes. Although hydrocarbon (decane) is not required in the planar membrane for fusion, it does affect the rate of fusion and causes the fusion process to be dependent on stirring in the cis compartment.

scholarly journals Hydrostatic pressures developed by osmotically swelling vesicles bound to planar membranes.

1989 ◽  
Vol 93 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
W D Niles ◽  
F S Cohen ◽  
A Finkelstein
Keyword(s):  
Contact Region ◽  
Irreversible Thermodynamics ◽  
Open Channels ◽  
Vesicle Membrane ◽  
Osmotic Swelling ◽  
Solute Permeability ◽  
Membrane Permeabilities ◽  
Membrane Contact ◽  
Planar Membrane ◽  
Planar Membranes

When phospholipid vesicles bound to a planar membrane are osmotically swollen, they develop a hydrostatic pressure (delta P) and fuse with the membrane. We have calculated the steady-state delta P, from the equations of irreversible thermodynamics governing water and solute flows, for two general methods of osmotic swelling. In the first method, vesicles are swollen by adding a solute to the vesicle-containing compartment to make it hyperosmotic. delta P is determined by the vesicle membrane's permeabilities to solute and water. If the vesicle membrane is devoid of open channels, then delta P is zero. When the vesicle membrane contains open channels, then delta P peaks at a channel density unique to the solute permeability properties of both the channel and the membrane. The solute enters the vesicle through the channels but leaks out through the region of vesicle-planar membrane contact. delta P is largest for channels having high permeabilities to the solute and for solutes with low membrane permeabilities in the contact region. The model predicts the following order of solutes producing pressures of decreasing magnitude: KCl greater than urea greater than formamide greater than or equal to ethylene glycol. Differences between osmoticants quantitatively depend on the solute permeability of the channel and the density of channels in the vesicle membrane. The order of effectiveness is the same as that experimentally observed for solutes promoting fusion. Therefore, delta P drives fusion. When channels with small permeabilities are used, coupling between solute and water flows within the channel has a significant effect on delta P. In the second method, an impermeant solute bathing the vesicles is isosmotically replaced by a solute which permeates the channels in the vesicle membrane. delta P resulting from this method is much less sensitive to the permeabilities of the channel and membrane to the solute. delta P approaches the theoretical limit set by the concentration of the impermeant solute.

scholarly journals Video fluorescence microscopy studies of phospholipid vesicle fusion with a planar phospholipid membrane. Nature of membrane-membrane interactions and detection of release of contents.

1987 ◽  
Vol 90 (5) ◽  
pp. 703-735 ◽  
Author(s):  
W D Niles ◽  
F S Cohen
Keyword(s):  
Fluorescence Microscopy ◽  
Phospholipid Vesicle ◽  
Flash Duration ◽  
Bilayer Membranes ◽  
Large Unilamellar Vesicles ◽  
Video Fluorescence Microscopy ◽  
Vesicular Membrane ◽  
Planar Membrane ◽  
Planar Membranes ◽  
And Diffusion

Video fluorescence microscopy was used to study adsorption and fusion of unilamellar phospholipid vesicles to solvent-free planar bilayer membranes. Large unilamellar vesicles (2-10 microns diam) were loaded with 200 mM of the membrane-impermeant fluorescent dye calcein. Vesicles were ejected from a pipette brought to within 10 microns of the planar membrane, thereby minimizing background fluorescence and diffusion times through the unstirred layer. Vesicle binding to the planar membrane reached a maximum at 20 mM calcium. The vesicles fused when they were osmotically swollen by dissipating a KCl gradient across the vesicular membrane with the channel-forming antibiotic nystatin or, alternatively, by making the cis compartment hyperosmotic. Osmotically induced ruptures appeared as bright flashes of light that lasted several video fields (each 1/60 s). Flashes of light, and therefore swelling, occurred only when channels were present in the vesicular membrane. The flashes were observed when nystatin was added to the cis compartment but not when added to the trans. This demonstrates that the vesicular and planar membranes remain individual bilayers in the region of contact, rather than melding into a single bilayer. Measurements of flash duration in the presence of cobalt (a quencher of calcein fluorescence) were used to determine the side of the planar membrane to which dye was released. In the presence of 20 mM calcium, 50% of the vesicle ruptures were found to result in fusion with the planar membrane. In 100 mM calcium, nearly 70% of the vesicle ruptures resulted in fusion. The methods of this study can be used to increase significantly the efficiency of reconstitution of channels into planar membranes by fusion techniques.

scholarly journals Exposure of ichnovirus particles to digitonin leads to enhanced infectivity and induces fusion from without in an in vitro model system

2007 ◽  
Vol 88 (11) ◽  
pp. 2977-2984 ◽  
Author(s):  
Don Stoltz ◽  
Renée Lapointe ◽  
Andrea Makkay ◽  
Michel Cusson
Keyword(s):  
Outer Membrane ◽  
In Vitro Model ◽  
Model System ◽  
Host Cells ◽  
Fusion Event ◽  
Susceptible Host ◽  
In Vitro Model System ◽  
Vitro Model

Unlike most viruses, the mature ichnovirus particle possesses two unit membrane envelopes. Following loss of the outer membrane in vivo, nucleocapsids are believed to gain entry into the cytosol via a membrane fusion event involving the inner membrane and the plasma membrane of susceptible host cells; accordingly, experimentally induced damage to the outer membrane might be expected to increase infectivity. Here, in an attempt to develop an in vitro model system for studying ichnovirus infection, we show that digitonin-induced disruption of the virion outer membrane not only increases infectivity, but also uncovers an activity not previously associated with any polydnavirus: fusion from without.

scholarly journals The fusion kinetics of influenza hemagglutinin expressing cells to planar bilayer membranes is affected by HA density and host cell surface.

1995 ◽  
Vol 106 (5) ◽  
pp. 783-802 ◽  
Author(s):  
G B Melikyan ◽  
W D Niles ◽  
F S Cohen
Keyword(s):  
Cell Surface ◽  
Fusion Protein ◽  
Pore Formation ◽  
Surface Proteins ◽  
Fusion Pore ◽  
Planar Bilayer ◽  
Bilayer Membranes ◽  
Pore Evolution ◽  
Fusion Pores ◽  
Kinetics Of

Time-resolved admittance measurements were used to follow formation of individual fusion pores connecting influenza virus hemagglutinin (HA)-expressing cells to planar bilayer membranes. By measuring in-phase, out-of-phase, and dc components of currents, pore conductances were resolved with millisecond time resolution. Fusion pores developed in stages, from small pores flickering open and closed, to small successful pores that remained open until enlarging their lumens to sizes greater than those of viral nucleocapsids. The kinetics of fusion and the properties of fusion pores were studied as functions of density of the fusion protein HA. The consequences of treating cell surfaces with proteases that do not affect HA were also investigated. Fusion kinetics were described by waiting time distributions from triggering fusion, by lowering pH, to the moment of pore formation. The kinetics of pore formation became faster as the density of active HA was made greater or when cell surface proteins were extensively cleaved with proteases. In accord with this faster kinetics, the intervals between transient pore openings within the flickering stage were shorter for higher HA density and more extensive cell surface treatment. Whereas the kinetics of fusion depended on HA density, the lifetimes of open fusion pores were independent of HA density. However, the lifetimes of open pores were affected by the proteolytic treatment of the cells. Faster fusion kinetics correlated with shorter pore openings. We conclude that the density of fusion protein strongly affects the kinetics of fusion pore formation, but that once formed, pore evolution is not under control of fusion proteins but rather under the influence of mechanical forces, such as membrane bending and tension.

Fusion of Large Unilamellar Liposomes Containing Hemocyanin with Planar Bilayer Membranes

1984 ◽  
Vol 39 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 147-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Flavia Pasquali ◽  
Gianfranco Menestrina ◽  
Renzo Antolini
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Properties ◽  
Ionic Channels ◽  
Planar Bilayer ◽  
Artificial Membrane ◽  
Bilayer Membranes ◽  
Large Unilamellar Vesicles ◽  
Strong Current ◽  
Voltage Curve ◽  
Current Voltage ◽  
Current Voltage Curve

Abstract Large unilamellar vesicles were prepared by detergent removal from micelles containing phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolam ine and phosphatidylserine. Liposomes were then interacted with Megathura crenulata hemocyanin, a well studied channel former. Incubation of the resulting proteoliposomes on one side of a phosphatidylserine-containing planar bilayer under fusion conditions yielded strong current increases. Such increase is due to insertion of ionic channels from the liposomes into the planar bilayer. Studying the effects of Ba2+ on the electrical properties of the channel we could show that the protein is always inserted into a bilayer during this process, i.e. fusion of proteoliposomes with the artificial membrane occurs. The strong non linearity of the current-voltage curve of the hemocyanin pore could be used as a probe of the extent to which fusion preserves the orientation of the channel through the bilayer.

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