The study of the interaction of a model α-helical peptide with lipid bilayers and monolayers

We studied the interaction of the α-helical peptide acetyl–Lys 2–Leu 24–Lys 2–amide (L 24) with tethered bilayer lipid membranes (tBLM) and lipid monolayers formed at an air–water interface. The interaction of L 24 with tBLM resulted in adsorption of the peptide to the surface of the bilayer, characterized by a binding constant K c=2.4±0.6 μM −1. The peptide L 24 an induced decrease of the elasticity modulus of the tBLM in a direction perpendicular to the membrane surface, E ⊥. The decrease of E ⊥ with increasing peptide concentration can be connected with a disordering effect of the peptide to the tBLM structure. The pure peptide formed a stable monolayer at the air/water interface. The pressure–area isotherms were characterized by a transition of the peptide monolayer, which probably corresponds of the partial intercalation of the α-helixes at higher surface pressure. Interaction of the peptide molecules with lipid monolayers resulted in an increase of the mean molecular area of phospholipids both in the gel and liquid crystalline states. With increasing peptide concentration, the temperature of the phase transition of the monolayer shifted toward lower temperatures. The analysis showed that the peptide–lipid monolayer is not an ideally miscible system and that the peptide molecules form aggregates in the monolayer.