Purified myelin lipids display a critical mixing point at low surface pressure

Abstract

Lipids extracted from Purified Myelin Membranes (LPMM) were spread as monomolecular films at the air/aqueous interface. The films were visualized by Brewster Angle Microscopy (BAM) at different lateral pressures (π) and ionic environments. Coexistence of Liquid-Expanded (LE) and cholesterol-enriched (CE) rounded domains persisted up to π ≈ 5 mN/m but the monolayers became homogeneous at higher surface pressures. Before mixing, the domains distorted to non-rounded domains. We experimentally measured the line tension (λ) for the lipid monolayers at the domain borders by a shape relaxation technique using non-homogeneous electric fields. Regardless of the subphase conditions, the obtained line tensions are of the order of pN and tended to decrease as lateral pressure increased toward the mixing point. From the mean square displacement of nested trapped domains, we also calculated the dipole density difference between phases (μ). A non-linear drop was detected in this parameter as the mixing point is approached. Here we quantitively evaluated the π-dependance of both parameters with proper power laws in the vicinity of the critical mixing surface pressure, and the exponents showed to be consistent with a critical phenomenon in the two-dimensional Ising universality class. This idea of bidimensionality was found to be compatible only for simplified lipidic systems, while for whole myelin monolayers, that means including proteins, no critical mixing point was detected. Finally, the line tension values were related with the thickness differences between phases (Δt) near the critical point.