Interactions between phospholipids and titanium dioxide particles

A systematic study was carried out on monolayer films and lipid vesicles to elucidate the interactions between membrane lipids and commercial particles of titanium dioxide TiO2 (TiO2-P25). Pressure-area isotherms of lipids at various pH values were recorded on a Langmuir trough with or without TiO2-P25 and NaCl in the subphase. Electrophoretic mobilities of lipid vesicles and TiO2-P25 particles were measured to identify the pH range where attractive electrostatic interactions between lipids and TiO2-P25 could take place. The results show that (i) the surface of TiO2-P25 particles interacts only with some phospholipids, (ii) the driving forces are electrostatic and (iii) non-electrostatic interactions were also observed, depending on the molecular structure. More precisely, the phospholipids 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphate monosodium salt (DMPA), 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phospho-rac-1-glycerol (DMPG) and 1′,3′-bis[1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phospho]-sn-glycerol (TMCL) interacted strongly with the TiO2-P25 surface through electrostatic interactions, providing they were oppositely charged, i.e. for pH between 2 and 6.6. For TMCL and DMPG, interactions with the surface of TiO2-P25 in non-favourable electrostatic conditions, suggested another kind of binding, probably through the hydroxyl groups of the terminal glycerol. Weaker attractive interactions were demonstrated for 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phospho-l-serine (DMPS) and the synthetic lipid dihexadecyl phosphate (DHP). For DMPS, the carboxylate group is involved in the adsorption onto TiO2. The other membrane lipids such as 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPC), 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine (DMPE) and sphingomyelin (SM) did not interact with TiO2-P25 regardless of pH.