Project Summary
Membranes play central and fundamental roles in cell biology. In addition to providing the physical and functional
interface between cellular life and the extracellular world, membranes enable most intracellular
compartmentalization in eukaryotes. Furthermore, close to a third of mammalian proteins are membrane
embedded, with their organization and activity intrinsically coupled to the emergent properties resulting from the
collective assembly of lipids and proteins into membranes. Despite this central importance, the structure and
organization of living plasma membranes (PMs) remain poorly characterized. Most notably, living membranes
are largely compositionally asymmetric; however, how those distinct leaflet compositions affect biophysical
properties remains almost completely unexplored. This knowledge gap has persisted because robust
technologies for exploring asymmetric membranes have not been available. However, recent methodological
breakthroughs have enabled the construction and characterization of complex, biomimetic, asymmetric bilayers.
In parallel, quantitative approaches have been developed to probe the biophysical asymmetry of living
membranes. Here, we propose to extend these studies through an unprecedented integration of lipidomics,
biophysical experiments, cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryoEM), and advanced molecular
simulations, to test our central hypothesis that compositionally asymmetric membranes have unique biophysical
properties resulting from robust coupling between lateral and transverse membrane organization. We will
approach this goal through three independent yet complementary lines of inquiry. In Aim 1, we will investigate
the biophysical coupling between leaflet asymmetry and membrane lateral organization in model membranes.
We will use confocal microscopy, cryoEM, and atomistic simulations to probe the dependence of lipid
composition on interleaflet coupling, thereby defining the compositional drivers and molecular mechanisms of
leaflet coupling in asymmetric bilayers. Aim 2 will extend these studies into more complex systems to define the
biophysical disparity between leaflets in compositionally biomimetic, asymmetric bilayers. We will compare
symmetric membranes representative of the inner and outer leaflet of mammalian PMs to their asymmetric
counterparts to directly identify the novel consequences arising from asymmetric lipid distributions. Finally, in
Aim 3 we will extend our studies into membrane asymmetry in live cell membranes. Recently developed
techniques to selectively probe individual leaflets of cultured mammalian cell PMs will be combined with
manipulations of compositional asymmetry to determine the biophysical asymmetry of the resting PM and its
perturbation by lipid scrambling. Finally, we will perform the first detailed cryoEM characterization of PMs in situ
to determine membrane thickness and density distributions in asymmetric compared to scrambled living
membranes. These studies comprise a comprehensive, integrated approach to characterize for the first time the
consequences of leaflet asymmetry on the structure and organization of biological membranes.