Summary
A voltage-jump technique for the study of the time course of small, voltageinduced changes in the structure of single bilayers is presented, and a method is introduced whereby electromechanical (electrostrictive) phenomena can be separated from dielectric relaxations. As no foreign molecules need be introduced into the bilayers, the question about probe artifacts is eliminated. The time constants and amplitudes of dielectric relaxations in oxidized cholesterol bilayers at 21°C, along with their tentative identification are: (a) τ=3.3 msec, ΔC/C o=0.8% and τ=0.7 msec, ΔC/C o=0.6%: reorientation in the plane of the membrane of domains or clusters of dipoles. (b) τ=155 μsec, ΔC/C o=1.5–3%: rotational reorientation of individual molecules. (c) τ=18 μsec, δC/C o=1.4%: small amplitude reorientations of individual dipoles about an axis lying in the plane of the membrane. Electrostictive effects with time constants between about 2 and 50 msec were also detected. A temperature study of both the dielectric and electrostrictive phenomena is reported. The application of the technique to other membrane compositions and to a variety of BLM problems is discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Andrews, D.M., Manev, E.D., Haydon, D.A. 1970. Composition and energy relationships for some thin lipid films, and the chain conformation in monolayers at liquid-liquid interfaces.Spec. Disc. Faraday Soc. 1:46
Babakov, A.V., Ermishkin, L.M., Liberman, E.A. 1966. Influence of electric field on the capacity of phospholipid membranes.Nature 210:953
Baessler, H., Beard, R.B., Labes, M.M. 1970. Dipole relaxation in a liquid crystal.J. Chem. Phys. 52:2292
Bamberg, E., Läuger, P. 1973. Channel formation kinetics of gramicidin A in lipid bilayer membranes.J. Membrane Biol. 11:177
Böttcher, C.J.F. 1952. Theory of Electric Polarization. Elsevier, Amsterdam
Cherry, R.J., Hsu, K., Chapman, D. 1972. Structure and reflection spectra of chlorophyll-lipid membranes.Biochim. Biophys. Acta 288:12
Coster, H.G.L., Smith, J.R. 1974. The molecular organization of bimolecular lipid membranes: A study of the low frequency Maxwell-Wagner impedance dispersion.Biochim. Biophys. Acta 373:151
Daniel, V.V. 1967. Dielectric Relaxation. Academic Press, London
Davis, D. 1972. Phosphorus nuclear magnetic resonance in egg yolk lecithin: Field dependent line widths and phosphate group mobility.Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 49:1492
Hanai, T., Haydon, D.A., Taylor, J. 1965a. Polar group orientation and the electrical properties of lecithin bimolecular leaflets.J. Theoret. Biol. 9:278
Hanai, T., Haydon, D.A., Taylor, J. 1965b. The variation of capacity and conductance of bimolecular lipid membranes with area.J. Theoret. Biol. 9:433
Haydon, D.A. 1970. A critique of the black lipid film as a membrane model.In: Proc. Int. Conf. Biological Membranes (1969). L. Bolis, A. Katchalsky, R.D. Keynes, W.R. Loewenstein and B.A. Pethica, editors. pp. 185–194. North-Holland Publishing Co., Amsterdam, London
Henn, F.A., Thompson, T.E. 1969. Synthetic lipid bilayer membranes.Annu. Rev. Biochem. 38:241
Hsu, M., Chan, S.I. 1973. Nuclear magnetic resonance studies of the interaction of valinomycin with unsonicated lecithin bilayers.Biochemistry 12:3872
Keith, A.D., Sharnoff, M., Cohn, G.E. 1973. A summary and evaluation of spin labels used as probes for biological membrane structure.Biochim. Biophys. Acta 300:379
King, T.E., Steinrauf, L.K. 1972. Stabilization of a lipid bilayer membrane by polylysine.Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 49:1433
Läuger, P., Lesslauer, W., Marti, E., Richter, J. 1967. Electrical properties of bimolecular phospholipid membranes.Biochim. Biophys. Acta 135:20
Lossen, O., Brennecke, R., Schubert, D. 1973. Electrical properties of black membranes from oxidized cholesterol and a strongly bound protein fraction of human erythrocyte membranes.Biochim. Biophys. Acta 330:132
McLaughlin, S.G.A., Szabo, G., Eisenman, G. 1971. Divalent ions and the surface potential of charged phospholipid membranes.J. Gen. Physiol. 58:667
Montal, M., Mueller, P. 1972. Formation of bimolecular membranes from lipid monolayers and a study of their electrical properties.Proc. nat. Acad. Sci. USA 69:3561
Poste, G., Allison, A.C. 1973. Membrane fusion.Biochim. Biophys. Acta 300:421
Rosen, D., Sutton, A.M. 1968. The effects of a direct current potential bias on the electrical properties of bimolecular lipid membranes.Biochim. Biophys. Acta 163:226
Sargent, D.F. 1975a. An apparatus for the measurement of very small membrane relaxation currents.Analyt. Biochem. (in press)
Sargent, D.F. 1975b. Bilayer dynamics studies using capacitance relaxation.In: Molecular Aspects of Membrane Phenomena (Nov. 4–6, 1974: Battelle Seattle Research Center). Springer-Verlag, New York, Inc.
Stark, G., Benz, R., Pohl, G.W., Janko, K. 1972. Valinomycin as a probe for the study of structural changes of black lipid membranes.Biochim. Biophys. Acta 266:603
Steinemann, A., Stark, G., Läuger, P. 1972. Orientation of the porphyrin ring in artificial chlorophyll membranes.J. Membrane Biol. 9:177
Szabo, G., Eisenman, G., McLaughlin, S.G.A., Krasne, S. 1972. Ionic probes of membrane structures.Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 195:273
Tien, H. Ti, Carbone, S., Dawidowicz, E.A. 1966. Formation of “black” lipid membranes by oxidation products of cholesterol.Nature 212:718
Vandenheuvel, F.A. 1963. Study of biological structure at molecular level with stereomodel projections. 1. Lipids in myelin sheath of nerve.J. Amer. Oil Chem. Soc. 40:455
Vasquez, C., Parisi, M., de Robertis, E. 1971. Fine structure of ultrathin artificial membranes.J. Membrane Biol. 6:353
White, S.H. 1970a. Thickness changes in lipid bilayer membranes.Biochim. Biophys. Acta 196:354
White, S.H. 1970b. A study of lipid bilayer membrane stability using precise measurements of specific capacitance.Biophys. J. 10:1127
White, S.H. 1972. Analysis of the torus surrounding planar lipid bilayer membranes.Biophys. J. 12:432
White, S.H., Thompson, T.E. 1973. Capacitance, area and thickness variations in thin lipid films.Biochim. Biophys. Acta,323:7
Wobschall, D. 1968. An electret model of the nerve membrane.J. Theoret. Biol. 21:439
Wobschall, D. 1972. Voltage dependence of bilayer membrane capacitance.J. Colloid Interface Sci. 40:417
Wobschall, D., Ohki, S. 1973. Electrical polarization of phosphatidylserine bilayer membranes by calcium ions.Biochim. Biophys Acta 291:363
Yguerabide, J., Stryer, L. 1971. Fluorescence spectroscopy of an oriented model membrane.Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 68:1217
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This work was done in the laboratories of Prof. R. Schwyzer.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sargent, D.F. Voltage jump/capacitance relaxation studies of bilayer structure and dynamics. J. Membrain Biol. 23, 227–247 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01870252
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01870252