Viscous control of cellular respiration by membrane lipid composition

Itay Budin; Tristan de Rond; Yan Chen; Leanne Jade G. Chan; Christopher J. Petzold; Jay D. Keasling

doi:10.1126/science.aat7925

Viscous control of cellular respiration by membrane lipid composition

Itay Budin, Tristan de Rond, Yan Chen, Leanne Jade G. Chan, Christopher J. Petzold, Jay D. Keasling^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

Abstract

Lipid composition determines the physical properties of biological membranes and can vary substantially between and within organisms. We describe a specific role for the viscosity of energy-transducing membranes in cellular respiration. Engineering of fatty acid biosynthesis in Escherichia coli allowed us to titrate inner membrane viscosity across a 10-fold range by controlling the abundance of unsaturated or branched lipids. These fluidizing lipids tightly controlled respiratory metabolism, an effect that can be explained with a quantitative model of the Electron Transport Chain (ETC) that features diffusion-coupled reactions between enzymes and electron carriers (quinones). Lipid unsaturation also modulated mitochondrial respiration in engineered budding yeast strains. Thus, diffusion in the ETC may serve as an evolutionary constraint for lipid composition in respiratory membranes.

Original language	English
Journal	Science
Volume	362
Issue number	6419
Pages (from-to)	1186–1189
ISSN	0036-8075
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aat7925
Publication status	Published - 2018

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title = "Viscous control of cellular respiration by membrane lipid composition",

abstract = "Lipid composition determines the physical properties of biological membranes and can vary substantially between and within organisms. We describe a specific role for the viscosity of energy-transducing membranes in cellular respiration. Engineering of fatty acid biosynthesis in Escherichia coli allowed us to titrate inner membrane viscosity across a 10-fold range by controlling the abundance of unsaturated or branched lipids. These fluidizing lipids tightly controlled respiratory metabolism, an effect that can be explained with a quantitative model of the Electron Transport Chain (ETC) that features diffusion-coupled reactions between enzymes and electron carriers (quinones). Lipid unsaturation also modulated mitochondrial respiration in engineered budding yeast strains. Thus, diffusion in the ETC may serve as an evolutionary constraint for lipid composition in respiratory membranes.",

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AU - Budin, Itay

AU - Rond, Tristan de

AU - Chen, Yan

AU - Chan, Leanne Jade G.

AU - Petzold, Christopher J.

AU - Keasling, Jay D.

PY - 2018

Y1 - 2018

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AB - Lipid composition determines the physical properties of biological membranes and can vary substantially between and within organisms. We describe a specific role for the viscosity of energy-transducing membranes in cellular respiration. Engineering of fatty acid biosynthesis in Escherichia coli allowed us to titrate inner membrane viscosity across a 10-fold range by controlling the abundance of unsaturated or branched lipids. These fluidizing lipids tightly controlled respiratory metabolism, an effect that can be explained with a quantitative model of the Electron Transport Chain (ETC) that features diffusion-coupled reactions between enzymes and electron carriers (quinones). Lipid unsaturation also modulated mitochondrial respiration in engineered budding yeast strains. Thus, diffusion in the ETC may serve as an evolutionary constraint for lipid composition in respiratory membranes.

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DO - 10.1126/science.aat7925

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VL - 362

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EP - 1189

JO - Science

JF - Science

IS - 6419

ER -

Viscous control of cellular respiration by membrane lipid composition

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