Graduate Student Jennie Cawley

"Analysis of Biomolecular Interactions and New Imaging Approaches for Identifying Membrane Heterogeneities"

Lipids and proteins are essential due to their many roles in maintaining cellular structure and function. However, lipid-lipid and lipid-protein interactions are difficult to study due to the complexity of cell membranes. To circumvent the cell’s complexity, model membrane systems are used to study these interactions in a controlled manner. In this work, I will discuss how model membranes can be used as a mimic to study interactions within the periaxonal space of the nervous system.1 Thereafter, I will discuss how a simple europium (III) tetracycline complex can be used to visualize the heterogeneity of phase-separated membranes.2 Lastly, I will discuss the use of lift-off nanocontact printing (LNCP), a rapid, low-cost method that allows for the capture of thousands of individual vesicular particles in ordered arrays.3 I will demonstrate how our group has utilized LNCP to study heterogeneity of liposome and extracellular vesicles at the single-vesicle level. Taken together, the work presented here will exemplify how model membranes can be used to study in vivo protein-lipid interactions, and how there is a greater need for tools and technology that enable the identification of biomembrane heterogeneities at the single-entity level.

References
(1) Cawley, J. L.; Jordan, L. R.; Wittenberg, N. J. Detection and Characterization of Vesicular Gangliosides Binding to Myelin-Associated Glycoprotein on Supported Lipid Bilayers. Anal. Chem. 2021, 93 (2), 1185–1192.
(2) Cawley, J.; McDarby, A.; Honerkamp-Smith, A.; Wittenberg, N. Imaging Membrane Heterogeneity with Europium Luminescence. (Manuscript in preparation)
(3) Cawley, J. L.; Blauch, M. E.; Collins, S. M.; Nice, J. B.; Xie, Q.; Jordan, L. R.; Brown, A. C.; Wittenberg, N. J. Nanoarrays of Individual Liposomes and Bacterial Outer Membrane Vesicles by Liftoff Nanocontact Printing. Small 2021, 17 (50), 2103338.