https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/s10189-023-00366-8
Regular Article – Soft Matter
Spontaneous bilayer wrapping of virus particles by a phospholipid Langmuir monolayer
1
Biological Physics Laboratory, Institute of Physics, Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, San Luis/dF Potosí, 78000, San Luis Potosí, México
2
Present Address: Center of Nanosciences and Nanotechnology-UNAM, Km 107 Carretera Tijuana-Ensenada, 22800, Ensenada, BC, México
3
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California Los Angeles, 90095-1569, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Received:
28
July
2023
Accepted:
27
September
2023
Published online:
5
December
2023
We report here the spontaneous formation of lipid-bilayer-wrapped virus particles, following the injection of “naked” virus particles into the subphase of a Langmuir trough with a liquid monolayer of lipids at its air–water interface. The virus particles are those of the well-studied cowpea chlorotic mottle virus, CCMV, which are negatively charged at the pH 6 of the subphase; the lipids are a 9:1 mix of neutral DMPC and cationic CTAB molecules. Before adding CCMV particles to the subphase we establish the mixed lipid monolayer in its liquid-expanded state at a fixed pressure (17.5 mN/m) and average area-per-molecule of (41Å2). Keeping the total area fixed, the surface pressure is observed to decrease at about 15 h after adding the virus particles in the subphase; by 37 h it has dropped to zero, corresponding to essentially all the lipid molecules having been removed from the air–water interface. By collecting particles from the subphase and measuring their sizes by atomic force microscopy, we show that the virus particles have been wrapped by lipid bilayers (or by two lipid bilayers). These results can be understood in terms of thermal fluctuations and electrostatic interactions driving the wrapping of the anionic virus particles by the cationic lipids.
© The Author(s) 2023
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