Model for penetratin-phospholipid membranes interactions.

<p>A) The association of penetratin with PG membranes results in the conformational change of the peptide with α-helix and β-sheet contributions and a decrease in membrane fluidity. B) With PC membranes, the peptide associates in a two step processes but remains quite unstructured and does not change notably the fluidity of the membrane. It induces membrane aggregation. C) With PE penetratin binds membranes in a two step processes with an accompanying structural change (mainly α-helix). The membrane experiments a decrease in fluidity and strong membrane aggregation is allowed. Arrows indicate the phospholipid movements induced by penetratin as observed by PWR. The increase in membrane rigidity is indicated by the straight lines of lipid acyl chains. The small circles at the bottom represent membrane vesicles and their degree of aggregation induced by penetratin. For more details see the discussion.