Effects of trehalose on the structures and dynamics of lipid membranes

Masui, Tomomi; Fujiwara, Satoru; Nakagawa, Hiroshi   ; Kataoka, Mikio

It is known that trehalose is a protective reagent and plays important roles in desiccation tolerance. One of the important properties of trehalose for the desiccation tolerance is stabilization of the biomembranes in the fluid phase. However, due to lack of information of how the trehalose molecules distribute on the biomembrane and interact with lipid molecules, the preservation mechanism of the biomembrane by trehalose has not been elucidated. Here we aimed at determining the distribution of trehalose on the simple model biomembrane and characterize dynamic properties of the membrane and the lipid molecules. For this purpose we employed small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS and WAXS) and neutron spin echo (NSE) techniques. The NSE measurement revealed that the addition of trehalose to lipid membrane decreases the bending rigidity. This effect of trehalose is same tendency of temperature.