Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 115, Issue 2, Pages E134-E143Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1715830115
Keywords
Survanta; phosphatidylcholine; palmitic acid; anisotropy; capillary pressure
Categories
Funding
- National Institutes of Health [HL 51177, HL 135065]
- National Science Foundation [CBET 170378]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The morphology of surfactant monolayers is typically studied on the planar surface of a Langmuir trough, even though most physiological interfaces are curved at the micrometer scale. Here, we show that, as the radius of a clinical lung surfactant monolayer-covered bubble decreases to similar to 100 mu m, the monolayer morphology changes from dispersed circular liquid-condensed (LC) domains in a continuous liquid-expanded (LE) matrix to a continuous LC linear mesh separating discontinuous LE domains. The curvature-associated morphological transition cannot be readily explained by current liquid crystal theories based on isotropic domains. It is likely due to the anisotropic bending energy of the LC phase of the saturated phospholipids that are common to all natural and clinical lung surfactants. This continuous LC linear mesh morphology is also present on bilayer vesicles in solution. Surfactant adsorption and the dilatational modulus are also strongly influenced by the changes in morphology induced by interfacial curvature. The changes in morphology and dynamics may have physiological consequences for lung stability and function as the morphological transition occurs at alveolar dimensions.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available