Localizing cationic ionic liquids in biomimetic membranes models: a small-angle X-ray scattering approach

• Grant number: 19/08832-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Start date: July 01, 2019
• End date: November 30, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biophysics - Molecular Biophysics
• Principal Investigator: Leandro Ramos Souza Barbosa
• Grantee: Natália Fernandes de Oliveira
• Supervisor: Francesco Spinozzi
• Host Institution: Instituto de Física (IF). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Università Politecnica delle Marche (UNIVPM), Italy
• Associated to the scholarship: 18/04796-8 - The study of the interaction of amphiphilic ionic liquids with model membranes: a structural and spectroscopic approach, BP.MS

Abstract

There are several methods used to characterize small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) profile from biomembranes, since they are an important field of research, and this technique can provide valuable information about the membrane function, mechanical properties and also the interaction with some other system, like proteins (or peptides), some drugs aiming the construction of drug-delivery systems, and also surfactants. Regarding the SAXS curves of biomimetic (like biomembranes) systems, a method often used is the division of the membrane into several manageable submolecular groups and the determination of the volume fraction distribution of each these chemical groups along the bilayer, an approach well-known as scattering density profile (SDP). Recently, to improve this model, a modification was developed to extend the application of the SDP model to more complex lipid molecular architectures in order to get more information of their structural properties, called modified scattering density profile (MSDP). The main goal of this project is to use this modified SPD model to understand the interaction of some ionic liquids (IL) with biomimetic systems of membrane. To do so, we will use different lipids for the composition of large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs), and the small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) data to obtain where the ionic liquids insert into the bilayer of the membrane. We do believe that the characterization of where ionic liquids are in model membranes can elucidate the physicochemical mechanism of IL toxicity on cells. (AU)