Physiology Commons^™

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 …