Phase asymmetry effect on vesicle fusion induced by phospholipase D

Spherical phospholipid bilayers, vesicles, were formed with respect to phase of each layer via a double emulsion technique. The conversion of phosphatidylcholine (PC) to phosphatidic acid (PA) at the outer layer, caused by phospholipase D (PLD), induced a curvature change in the vesicles, which eventually led them to fuse each other. The effect of the lipid layer physical-properties on the PLD-induced vesicle fusion was investigated using the fluorescence intensity change. 8-Aminonaphthalene-1,3,6-trisulfonic acid disodium salt(ANTS) and p-Xylene-bis(N-pyridinium bromide)(DPX) were encapsulated in the vesicles, respectively, for the quantification of the fusion. The fluorescence scale was calibrated with the fluorescence of a 1/1 mixture of ANTS and DPX vesicles in NaCl buffer taken as 100% fluorescence (0% fusion) and the vesicles containing both ANTS and DPX as 0% fluorescence (100% fusion), considering the leakage into the medium studied directly in a separate experiment using vesicles containing both ANTS and DPX. It was observed that the fusion occurred to the liquid-phase of the inner layer only. The fusion behaviors were very similar for both solid and liquid of the outer layer. However, the leakage was faster for the solid-phase outer-layer than the liquid-phase outerlayer. The difference in the leakage seems to be caused by the lipid concentration and the lateral diffusivity in the layer.