Drašler B, Drobne D, Sadeghpour A, Rappolt M
[ pdf ] [ site ] Chemistry and Physics of Lipids, 2015

The coupling of fullerene (C₆₀) to the structure and elasticity of 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine bilayers has been explored by synchrotron small angle X-ray scattering. Multilamellar vesicles were loaded with 0, 2 and 10 mol.% of C₆₀ and studied in a temperature range from 15 to 65 °C. The addition of C₆₀ caused an increase in the bilayer undulations (20%), in the bilayer separation (15%), in the linear expansion coefficient and caused a drop in the bending rigidity of the bilayers (20%). Possible damaging effects of fullerene on biomembranes are mainly discussed on the basis of altered bilayer fluidity and elasticity changes.