Lipid Headgroup Hydration Regulates Distinct Remodeling of the Membrane Interface by Polyethylene Glycol and Dextran.

Authors

Sayani Bhunia, Jacky Lin, Dmytro Nykypanchuk, Simou Sun

Published in

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology. Jul 22, 2026. Epub Jul 22, 2026.

Abstract

Water-soluble polymers commonly interact with cell membranes, but their interactions are poorly understood. Here, we investigate polyethylene glycol (PEG) and dextran (DEX) interactions with different model lipid membranes. Using total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy, we observe that PEG and DEX trigger strikingly different membrane responses - DEX induces extensive membrane remodeling, including localized multilamellar domain formation, while PEG does not. Combining fluorescence spectroscopy, fluorescence anisotropy, and vibrational sum frequency spectroscopy, we show that DEX perturbs lipid headgroup hydration by displacing interfacial water with minimal effects on lipid packing, while PEG largely preserves this hydration layer. We find that membrane binding affinity alone does not determine the extent to which hydrophilic polymers perturb membrane structure and interfacial properties; and that lipid headgroup hydration, rather than lipid charge, is a general regulator of hydrophilic polymer-membrane interactions. This work gives mechanistic insights into how neutral polymers interact with cells and vesicles, with relevance to cell biology and drug delivery.

PMID:
42539157
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 01 Aug 2026.

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