Journal
BIOPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Volume 104, Issue 6, Pages 1257-1262Publisher
CELL PRESS
DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2013.02.011
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Funding
- Spanish Ministry of Education and Science [TEC2010-16844]
- European Commission [NMP-228685-2]
- Generalitat de Catalunya
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We present what is, to our knowledge, the first experimental demonstration of dielectric constant measurement and quantification of supported lipid bilayers in electrolyte solutions with nanoscale spatial resolution. The dielectric constant was quantitatively reconstructed with finite element calculations by combining thickness information and local polarization forces which were measured using an electrostatic force microscope adapted to work in a liquid environment. Measurements of submicrometric dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine lipid bilayer patches gave dielectric constants of epsilon(r) similar to 3, which are higher than the values typically reported for the hydrophobic part of lipid membranes (epsilon(r) similar to 2) and suggest a large contribution of the polar head-group region to the dielectric response of the lipid bilayer. This work opens apparently new possibilities in the study of biomembrane electrostatics and other bioelectric phenomena.
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