Phonons reveal coupled cholesterol-lipid dynamics in ternary membranes
Experimental studies of collective dynamics in lipid bilayers have been challenging due to the energy resolution required to observe these low-energy phonon-like modes. However, inelastic X-ray scattering (IXS) measurements — a technique for probing vibrations in soft and biological materials — are now possible with sub-meV resolution, permitting direct observation of low energy, phonon-like modes in lipid membranes. Here, in this study, IXS measurements with sub-meV energy resolution reveal a low-energy optic-like phonon mode at roughly 3 meV in the liquid-ordered (L o ) and liquid-disordered (L d ) phases of a ternary lipid mixture. This mode is only observed experimentally at momentum transfers greater than 5 nm -1 in the L o system. A similar gapped mode is also observed in all-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of the same mixture, indicating that the simulations accurately represnt the fast, collective dynamics in the L o phase. It’s optical nature and the Q range of the gap together suggest that the observed mode is due to the coupled motion of cholesterol-lipid pairs, separated by several hydrocarbon chains within the membrane plane. Analysis of the simulations provide molecular insight into the origin of the mode in transient, nanoscale substructures of hexagonally packed hydrocarbon chains. This nanoscale hexagonal packing was previously reported based on molecular dynamics simulations and later by NMR measurements. Here, however, the integration of IXS and MD simulations identifies a new signature of the L o substructure in the collective lipid dynamics, thanks to the recent confluence of IXS sensitivity and MD simulation capabilities.