Figure 6.

Efficiency of different SMA variants in solubilizing lipid vesicles. (A) Time course solubilization of di-14:0 PC vesicles in standard BR-buffer at 15°C (gel phase) by the SMA variants at pH 8.0. The asterisks denote the time where the temperature was set to 23°C, which is the T_m of di-14:0 PC. (B) Normalized optical density values of the di-14:0 PC vesicle suspension 5 min after SMA addition. The open symbols in (B) indicate that the polymer is not water soluble in the absence of lipids according to Fig. 2 A. Experiments where the optical density increased above the value before SMA addition have been set to a value of 1 to enhance the clarity of the figure. The relative optical density values could be reproduced with a maximum error estimated to be ±0.05 A units (n = 3). All measurements were performed at a polymer concentration of 0.1% (w/v). Solid lines were added to guide the eye. To see this figure in color, go online.