Structure of mixed lipid monolayers containing bacterial lipoteichoic acid (LTA) at the air-water interface

Lipoteichoic acid (LTA), a polymeric amphiphile with an interesting architecture (lipids+polymer brushes) present in the Gram-positive bacterial membrane, is considered a major cause of various infections. The fundamental understanding on LTA-induced structural changes to the phospholipid membrane remains inadequate. We propose to investigate the structure of the mixed lipid monolayers mimicking the outer lipid membrane structure of Bacillus subtilis, a Gram-positive bacteria species comprising d-DPPG, d-DPPE, CL and LTA using neutron reflectivity (NR) at the air-water interface, particularly varying the LTA content (2-15 mole %). The subphase pH and temperature will also be varied to understand their effects on the structural integrity of the mixed lipid monolayer mimicking the outer leaflet of the bacterial membrane.