研究人员描述了梳水母（栉水母）的一种压力适应模式，这种模式也限制了这些动物的深度范围。对深海栉水母脂质的结构分析表明，它们在压力下形成了非双层相，而这种相通常并不稳定。脂质组学和全原子模拟发现，磷脂具有很强的负自发曲率，包括缩醛磷脂，这是导致这种相行为的深海适应膜的标志。
在大肠杆菌中，合成磷脂可提高耐压性，而低曲率磷脂的效果则相反。对栉水母组织的成像表明，深海动物在减压时的解体可能是由其磷脂膜的相变驱动的。
据悉，静水压力随着海洋深度的增加而增加，但人们对生物耐压的分子基础知之甚少。
附：英文原文
Title: Homeocurvature adaptation of phospholipids to pressure in deep-sea invertebrates
Author: Jacob R. Winnikoff, Daniel Milshteyn, Sasiri J. Vargas-Urbano, Miguel A. Pedraza-Joya, Aaron M. Armando, Oswald Quehenberger, Alexander Sodt, Richard E. Gillilan, Edward A. Dennis, Edward Lyman, Steven H. D. Haddock, Itay Budin
Issue&Volume: 2024-06-28
Abstract: Hydrostatic pressure increases with depth in the ocean, but little is known about the molecular bases of biological pressure tolerance. We describe a mode of pressure adaptation in comb jellies (ctenophores) that also constrains these animals’ depth range. Structural analysis of deep-sea ctenophore lipids shows that they form a nonbilayer phase at pressures under which the phase is not typically stable. Lipidomics and all-atom simulations identified phospholipids with strong negative spontaneous curvature, including plasmalogens, as a hallmark of deep-adapted membranes that causes this phase behavior. Synthesis of plasmalogens enhanced pressure tolerance in Escherichia coli, whereas low-curvature lipids had the opposite effect. Imaging of ctenophore tissues indicated that the disintegration of deep-sea animals when decompressed could be driven by a phase transition in their phospholipid membranes.
DOI: adm7607
Source: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adm7607