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Full-Text Articles in Physiology
Hydrophobic Surfactant Proteins Strongly Induce Negative Curvature, Mariya Chavarha, Ryan W. Loney, Shankar B. Rananavare, Stephen B. Hall
Hydrophobic Surfactant Proteins Strongly Induce Negative Curvature, Mariya Chavarha, Ryan W. Loney, Shankar B. Rananavare, Stephen B. Hall
Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations
The hydrophobic surfactant proteins SP-B and SP-C greatly accelerate the adsorption of vesicles containing the surfactant lipids to form a film that lowers the surface tension of the air/water interface in the lungs. Pulmonary surfactant enters the interface by a process analogous to the fusion of two vesicles. As with fusion, several factors affect adsorption according to how they alter the curvature of lipid leaflets, suggesting that adsorption proceeds via a rate-limiting structure with negative curvature, in which the hydrophilic face of the phospholipid leaflets is concave. In the studies reported here, we tested whether the surfactant proteins might promote …