Unknown

Dataset Information

0

Accumulation of styrene oligomers alters lipid membrane phase order and miscibility.


ABSTRACT: Growth of plastic waste in the natural environment, and in particular in the oceans, has raised the accumulation of polystyrene and other polymeric species in eukyarotic cells to the level of a credible and systemic threat. Oligomers, the smallest products of polymer degradation or incomplete polymerization reactions, are the first species to leach out of macroscopic or nanoscopic plastic materials. However, the fundamental mechanisms of interaction between oligomers and polymers with the different cell components are yet to be elucidated. Simulations performed on lipid bilayers showed changes in membrane mechanical properties induced by polystyrene, but experimental results performed on cell membranes or on cell membrane models are still missing. We focus here on understanding how embedded styrene oligomers affect the phase behavior of model membranes using a combination of scattering, fluorescence, and calorimetric techniques. Our results show that styrene oligomers disrupt the phase behavior of lipid membranes, modifying the thermodynamics of the transition through a spatial modulation of lipid composition.

SUBMITTER: Morandi MI 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7848699 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

altmetric image

Publications

Accumulation of styrene oligomers alters lipid membrane phase order and miscibility.

Morandi Mattia I MI   Kluzek Monika M   Wolff Jean J   Schroder André A   Thalmann Fabrice F   Marques Carlos M CM  

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20210101 4


Growth of plastic waste in the natural environment, and in particular in the oceans, has raised the accumulation of polystyrene and other polymeric species in eukyarotic cells to the level of a credible and systemic threat. Oligomers, the smallest products of polymer degradation or incomplete polymerization reactions, are the first species to leach out of macroscopic or nanoscopic plastic materials. However, the fundamental mechanisms of interaction between oligomers and polymers with the differ  ...[more]

Similar Datasets

| S-EPMC8059084 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC3686330 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC7443500 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC6418963 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC21699 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC2895393 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC9821473 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC9157097 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC8539916 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC10267887 | biostudies-literature