Study of the Cell Membrane and the Synthesis of Chimeric Human Bacterial Phospholipids

• Main Author: Tade, Opeyemi O
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University 2021
• Subjects: phospholipids; cell membrane; laurdan; biofuel; general polarization (GP); Organic Chemistry
• Online Access: https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/3990; https://dc.etsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5495&context=etd

Phospholipid bilayers are the principal component of the cell membrane. Membranes ensure the maintenance of processes required for cells’ survival by regulating the inflow and outflow of nutrients and other molecules using membrane proteins. However, studying the cell membrane is challenging because of its complexity and small size. In-vitro membrane models made of phospholipids are important tools for studying membranes. In this work, we aim to study the fluidity of phospholipid bilayers of different lipids using general polarization (GP) of the fluorescent probe Laurdan as a measure. We will focus on the relative importance of head groups and fatty acids in the phospholipid. For this purpose, we are synthesizing chimeric lipids with the common human head group phosphocholine paired with bacterial fatty acids. We will compare the response of the human and chimeric lipids to temperature and biofuels to ascertain whether improved stress tolerance can be obtained with the chimeras.