Model Membrane Platforms for Screening Bioactive Compounds with Therapeutic Potential – BioComTest

Project Title: Model Membrane Platforms for Screening Bioactive Compounds with Therapeutic Potential – BioComTest

The project aims to deliver new results that will expand the current knowledge on the structure and physicochemical characteristics of lipid models of biological membranes.

Membrane curvature is a fundamental parameter of substrate boundaries and a key factor influencing cell and tissue behavior. Cellular processes such as growth and morphological transformations enable the remodeling of these boundaries, thereby establishing a relationship between the morphology of biological systems and the physical parameters of their surrounding environment. The implementation of the work program under the COST Action CA22153 “European Curvature and Biology Network” will contribute to addressing challenges in biomedicine and healthcare by providing fundamental insights into the interactions of biomolecules with model lipid membranes and biological membranes. The realization of the ideas underlying both the COST Action and the present project proposal will support the search for effective solutions to societal challenges related to human health. Our capacity to contribute to the COST Action and this project is grounded in the combination of advanced material and technological infrastructure and the expertise of leading researchers in condensed matter physics, laser physics, biophysics, and cell biology. These competencies have been crucial for formulating the objectives of the project’s work plan. Discussion and analysis of the outcomes obtained during the project’s implementation will foster the generation of new ideas for the further development of current research topics. Special emphasis will be placed on expanding the scientific experience and skillsets of early-stage researchers involved in the project. It is expected that the active collaboration among team members, supported by their multidisciplinary expertise, will lay the foundation for strengthening the existing and establishing new international research partnerships.

Deliverables

Development of a laser ablation-based procedure for producing monodisperse apertures (50–100 µm) in thin (20–50 µm) Teflon membranes, enabling the formation of suspended lipid bilayers using the Montal-Mueller method for the determination of their impedance characteristics.

Quantitative characterization of non-covalent biomolecular interactions between natural and synthetic peptides with antimicrobial and/or anti-inflammatory activity and biomimetic membranes of varying lipid compositions.

Determination of the impedance characteristics of peptide-lipid membrane systems, including a quantitative assessment of the specific membrane capacitance in the presence of the investigated peptides.

Determination of the bending elasticity moduli of lipid bilayers with different compositions and in the presence of the investigated compounds with pharmacological potential.

Acievements

Publications

O. Petkov, K. Antonova, V. Georgiev, A. Stoyanova-Ivanova, L. Stoychev, D. Dimitrova, D. Danalev, and V. Vitkova*, Sequence modifications influence temporin interactions with lipid membrane models, in preparation

Host Organization

Institute of Solid State Physics , Bulgarian Academy of Sciences

Head of the research team:

Prof. Dr. Viktoria Vitkova, ISSP-BAS  

Members of the research team:

Prof. Dr. Galya Staneva, IBPhBME-BAS

Prof. Dr. Bilyana Nikolova, IBPhBME-BAS

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Angelina Stoyanova-Ivanova, ISSP-BAS

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lyubomir Stoychev, ISSP-BAS

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rusina Khazarosova, IBPhBME-BAS

Chief Assist. Prof. Dr. Vesela Yordanova, IBPhBME-BAS

Assist. Velizar Zdravkov Georgiev, ISSP-BAS

Assist. Aleksandrina Nesheva, IBPhBME-BAS

Physicist Ognyan Petkov, ISSP-BAS