Thymol in cellular membrane models formed by negative charged lipids causes aggregation at the air-water interface

Author(s)

Ferreira, Joao Victor N. ^[1] ; Lago, Joao Henrique G. ^[2] ; Caseli, Luciano ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Fed Sao Paulo, Inst Environm Chem & Pharmaceut Sci, Diadema, SP - Brazil

^[2] Fed Univ UFABC, Santo Andre, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Chemical Physics Letters; v. 717, p. 87-90, FEB 16 2019.
• Web of Science Citations: 1

Abstract

The physical-chemical effects of drugs/lipidic interfaces interactions are still little known, justifying investigations using model systems. Here, we investigated a drug with potential biological activity against microbial and tumorigenic cells, thymol, using phosphatidylserine as cellular membrane models. Surface pressure-area isotherms showed that selected amounts of thymol expand the monolayers and decreased its elasticity. Vibrational spectroscopy and Brewster angle microscopy pointed that thymol adsorbs on the lipid polar heads, affecting the aliphatic chain gauche conformations, causing aggregation at the interface. This indicated distinctive molecular accommodations of thymol along the phospholipidic structures, which is associated to its biological effect in natural membranes. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 15/23446-0 - Smart surfaces: nanostructured and bioinspired systems for the investigation of molecular interactions in membrane models and for the production of devices for biosensors and environmental analysis
• Grantee: Luciano Caseli
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• FAPESP's process: 13/14262-7 - Nanostructured films from biologically-relevant materials
• Grantee: Osvaldo Novais de Oliveira Junior
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants